The Heart of Discipleship

God, our heavenly Father. We thank you for the great privilege of knowing you and being known by you. Thank you for the great privilege of being found in Christ and in Christ alone. We thank you for the great privilege of worship, of being able to set our mind's attention and heart's affection on you, and to praise you for who you are and for what you've done. We thank you for the preaching of your Word, and we anxiously anticipate you speaking to us clearly and powerfully through its preaching. Granted by your grace, that we might have ears to hear, that we might have willing hearts, that we might have moldable wills. For it is our desire that Christ may indeed have the fullness of the reward for which he died. We asked this in his name and for his sake. Amen. Amen, But if you have your Bibles with you, would you open them to the Book of Second Timothy Second Timothy two Timothy chapter one. Was grateful earlier to see my ACU colleagues up here talking about the work that the Lord is doing there, excited about the way that God is using the reform Baptists of Zambia and allowing us to partner with them. I don't know if uh doctor Killian told you, but he's the the head of our agricultural science department, and it's just tumbling to see the kind of individuals who are casting their lot with us in this di s this discipleship effort, cause ultimately it is a discipleship effort. And so we asked it you would continue to pray for us as we continue to strive to serve God in that context. Two Timothy, chapter number one. I believe when you boil tewod Timothy down, it has a very simple theme. And this theme has everything to do with discipleship. There's a too pronged theme here in this letter, and if you will indulge me for a moment, I'll show you that two pronged theme. You find it in every chapter of the letter. There are two things that you find. And the idea is Paul is calling young Timothy and by extension, the rest of us, to preserve and proclaim the Gospel on the one hand, and on the other hand, to endure the suffering that will follow inevitably as a result of doing the first. And these two things go together. Preserve and proclaim and endure, preserve the gospel. Proclaim the gospel. And then you'll suffer for preserving and proclaiming the gospel. And when you do endure, endure for the sake of the gospel. Look with me, if you will, in chapter one and verse number thirteen, 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. And so there in chapter one, preserve, proclaim chapter two, verse two, what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses in trust the faithful men who will be able to teach others, also preserve and claim. Go with me to chapter three beginning of verse fourteen. 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 Christ Jesus. Preserve this, proclaim this, and then in chapter four, beginning of verse two, let's go. We gotta go back to 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 by his kingdom, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. So in every chapter of the letter there is this admonition to preserve and proclaim the Gospel. That that is the theme in this letter, over and over and over again. But it's not alone. Now we go back and look at chapter one, verse eight. Therefore, do not be ashamed. Of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner. But share with me. In suffering for the Gospel by the power of God verse twelve, which is why I suffer as I do. Chapter two, verse three. Share in suffering as a good soldier in Christ Jesus. Chapter three, beginning verse ten, You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastest, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra, 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. And finally, in chapter four, look at verse five, ask for you always be sober minded, endure, suffering in every chapter, in every chapter, four chapters in this book, and every time every turn, preserve and proclaim and endure. Preserve and proclaim and endure. And both of these are important to the apostle on the one hand, because he knows that he is at the end. Of his life. Look at verse six of chapter four. There for I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. He knows this, He's aware of this. That is essentially why he's writing the letter. That's the urgency in the letter. He is in prison again. Paul was a repeat offender, and he has a sense that this is going to be his last time, that this is the end for him. This is his last epistle. So he has preserved and proclaimed the Gospel as an apostle. That is what he has done. Look at the end again, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. He's done it. He's preserved, and he's proclaimed, and he is now enduring the suffering that is coming as a direct result of his preserving and proclaiming. And he is writing this letter in order to encourage Timothy to do the same, which is why he never wants flinches. In the letter. Can you imagine you know you're about to die, and you pick up your pen or call your amanuencies to pick up his pen in order to write a letter. Now for me, if I'm the apostle Paul and I'm writing this letter, let's just go ahead and tell it like it is, right, as Grandma would say, tell the truth and shame the devil. Right, if it's me, my letter at some point is going to say, you remember when Peter was in prison and those people had the prayer meeting and they he knocked on the door because God, call those people amen, somebody right. But that's not what he does. That's not what he does. He is unwavering and unflinching in the face of death. Why because essentially this is two Timothy in a nutshell. I have preserved the gospel, I have proclaimed the gospel, and now I am going to endure suffering to the point of death. Because of the Gospel that I have preserved and proclaimed, and when they kill me, take my place both in preserving and proclaiming, and if necessary, in dying. That doesn't go well with get me out of here. And this, I believe is the heart of discipleship. There are these two sides. One there's the content side, and discipleship is definitely about content. The discipleship is about. Us passing on the essence of the faith, passing on this knowledge of Christ, passing on this gospel, and passing on this right gospel. And in this age in which we live, we have a heightened sense of this, do we not? As the Gospel is perverted everywhere. I was talking to my friend Justin Peters, who has for years been sort of beating the of the dangers that we face because of this prosperity gospel. And Justin and I were talking about the fact that basically in America we have prosperity Gospel junior. It is it's prosperity gospel junior. Where I have been living for the last two and a half years in Sub Saharan Africa, that's prosperity gospel senior. And it is horrid. There are churches in our region where people under the leadership of their pastor have crawled around on hands and knees, eating grass, others drinking gasoline, handing over their wives to have sex with pastors and elders because they've been told that this will open up the womb and finally give them children. And in light of this, there is this need. To sort of push back darkness, to stand against falsehood, and preserve and proclaim the gospel, to get the gospel right. Amen. But we've got to be careful because it's not just the content, but also the consequences of the gospel. Christianity is not just a factory where we produce widgets by putting information into the minds of individuals and then sending them off to reproduce that information. That is not the heart of discipleship. The heart of discipleship is this right Gospel, rightly understood and then rightly applied in the. Lives of believers. And so go back with me to chapter one, and let's look more carefully at that side of it, and we'll see how these two are interrelated. We'll see how the apostle Paul is giving young Timothy information, giving young Timothy, this encouragement to hold on and preserve and proclaim the Gospel rightly, but doing it in context, doing it understanding that this truth that we have to hold on to has consequences for our lives. And you'll see it even in the way that he presents it to young Timothy, Paul an Apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, to Timoth, my beloved child. It's an amazing statement to Timothy, my beloved child, this term of endearment. He doesn't just throw this around lightly. It's not as though this is something that we find everywhere with the apostle. But notice also the juxtaposition of on the one hand, this official Paul an Apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus. This is an official letter. To my beloved child. On the one hand, don't you forget that I'm an apostle. This is official. And on the other hand, don't you forget that I love you and I'm your father in the faith, Because both of those things must be held intention as you read the rest of this letter, and don't miss the fact that in a few moments there is going to be mentioned in verse five. Let's just look at it now. I am reminded of your sincere faith of faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, And now I am sure dwells in you as well. Where's Daddy, Where's Daddy? Your mother's faith and your grandmother's faith. Where's Daddy. He's either not present or at least not a Christian. But Timothy's spiritual pedigree was a spiritual pedigree that was void of this significant male fatherly presence and his spiritual pedigree. And so the Apostle writes him and says, to my beloved child, don't miss that this is not just a data dump. We must preserve the gospel. We must proclaim the gospel, and it has to be the right gospel, and we have to be fiercely protective of that right gospel. But the reason that we're fiercely protective of that right gospel is because people matter to God, and the Gospel is the power of God. I'm just. And then he says, I thank God whom I serve as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience. If you go down to verse twelve, which is why I suffer as I do, but I am not ashamed. He tells Timothy, you don't be ashamed of him earlier look at verse eight. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the Gospel by the power of God. Now in verse twelve, which is why I suffer, but I am not ashamed. My conscience is clear and I am not ashamed. In order to understand this, let's look at how Paul uses this. Elsewhere Acts chapter twenty three. In verse one, as or Luke tells us, and looking intently at the council, Paul said, brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience. Up to this day. He uses it again. Look in the Acts chapter twenty twenty four, beginning of verse fourteen. But this I confess to you that according to the way Christianity is referred to as the way. According to the way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the law and written in the prophets having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and men. This is probative for us, this statement about Timothy being his beloved child, and the idea that there is this hole in his history of a father figure, and now the idea that he is serving God as did his ancestors, with a clear conscience. And that he is not ashamed. And at a moment he's going to call young Timothy to not be a shamed but to stir up a gift. You put the pieces to the puzzle together, and I think you get this idea. Timothy, for whatever reason, was prone to be a timid young man. Paul is writing a letter to a young man who is prone to be timid, who is prone to be fearful, and essentially he is calling this young man to step up, preserve, and proclaim the Gospel, even in the face of impending death. And in order to do this, he reaches into the heart of this young man, as it were, and touches all of those areas where Timothy is likely to become fearful and give up, and at every point he says. Don't you Dare? I didn't I didn't really have a father figure, Paul. I just don't know if I could. Don't you Dare, I'm your father figure. Well, yeah, you know, persecuting us because they say that we're a sect and we're not really holding to the faith as with My conscience is clear. I am serving the God of my fathers. I am not guilty as charged yet. Yeah, they're persecuting us, and they are going to kill us, but not rightly. So my conscience is clear. I've done nothing wrong. You've done nothing wrong. Do you see what's happening here? The heart of discipleship is relationship. Paul doesn't have the same kind of relationship with everyone that he's disciples, but this is a shining example of the principle that the heart of discipleship is relationship. Look at the rest of verse three. As I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day, as I remember your tears, I long to see you that I may be filled with joy not amazing, especially following from the introduction. This formal introduction of Paul, an apostle of Christ, Jesus, and he goes from that to I remember you constantly in my prayers. That and day I'm reminded of your tears. I long to see you that I may be filled with joy. This is a personal, intimate relationship. I know you, and you know me, and you know I know you. I know where you're strong, and I know where you're weak. Later on in chapter three, he's going to say, you remember my struggles, you remember my heartaches, you remember my persecutions. But what is he getting at verse six. After reminding him of his spiritual pedigree verse six? For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. You know me, the apostle. I'm the one who ordained you. Don't forget that. Don't forget Lewis, don't forget Eunis, don't forget me. For God gave us a spirit not of but of power and love and self control. Why is all of this important? All of this is important because Paul is calling Timothy to something that. Is completely unnatural. It's unnatural for the bravest man, it's unnatural for Paul, But for the grace of God. There is no way that he would be able to write a letter like this as he faces death. And yet as unnatural as it is, it is exactly what we're called to, and it is exactly what Timothy is called to, and Paul is reminding him that there is something in him that is greater than his fears. This is not a technical theological argument about facing persecution. This is a personal, intimate plead from one man who knows and loves another. Paul could have just written a treatise on suffering. It didn't have to be two Timothy. It could have been you know, first sufferings. Huh. Here is a letter to all of you on the doctrine and theology of suffering and enduring. Here are the technical theological intricacies and realities that you need to understand and be able to grab onto in order. But he doesn't do that. He writes a letter to a young man that he loves. The theology is there. Look at verse eight. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the Gospel by the power of God. I can't tell you I love that because here's the. Way we think. Here's the way that our flesh thinks, and this is why the prosperity Gospel gets so much traction with people. What my flesh wants to believe is that when I'm suffering, what I need is the power of God in my life so that the power of God can end the suffering. Amen, I'm suffering, God, show your power and in my suffering, Paul says, share in suffering for the Gospel by the power of God. This is necessary. This is necessary, not just for Timothy, but for every last one of us. Amen. This is a. Necessary piece of the discipleship puzzle. But here's the thing. Don't don't just get locked into this idea that this is all about enduring persecution and has no application to any other setting that that's known h Because the idea of preserving and proclaiming the Gospel and then enduring suffering is not just about enduring a perverse governmental agency or entity that is out there destroying the lives of Christians or or stoning Christians to death. Preserve and proclaim the Gospel and endure the war with your flesh. That will arise inevitably. Preserve and proclaim the gospel, and endure the temptation to be silent about the gospel. When your reputation takes a hit, preserve and proclaim the gospel. And don't you dare back death When those who have perverted the gospel have bigger numbers than you do, endure that. Preserve and proclaim the gospel, and endure when sin desires to overtake you and disqualify you. There's more to endure than impending death. And every disciple of Jesus Christ has to be reminded of this. Of course, this is like the apex of the struggle. Amen, somebody's going to put you to death for proclaiming the gospel. That's the apex of the struggle. But can I tell you that it can feel just as threatening when your reputation or your finance's heart stake. It can feel just as threatening, Pastor when when the numbers start to dwindle and you see smiling Joel on TV preaching to a stadium. Filled with people. Do I really have to preach all of this? Do I really have to preach it this hard? Certainly there's a few areas where I can, And that's where he gets to in chapter four by the way showed me and suffering for the Gospel by the power of God. And this is sort of the crossover. This is the link. This is the link between this heart of discipleship in the consequences of discipleship in the individual life and the content, because it's the content that fuels the heart of discipleship. So again it's not either or it's not let's major on the content and let's just get information to people so they can be conduits of information. Or on the other hand, let's major on relationship and leave the content behind, because the relationship is all that matters. Now, these things go hand in hand, and this middle section is where they sort of overlap. Look at it. Therefore, do not. Be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share and suffering for the Gospel by the power of God. Now there's a theological explanation of why who 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 ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ. Jesus who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher. Which is why I suffer as I do. But I'm not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has. Been entrusted to me. Endure. Timothy, suffer Timothy, how by the power of God and the power of the Gospel. Why for the sake of the Gospel. It's the how and the why. Amen. So the content is important for both of these reasons. The content is important because it's the why. It's the thing worth suffering for. So we preserve and proclaim the Gospel because the Gospel is the power of God at the salvation. Get the Gospel right, hold onto the Gospel. Proclaim the gospel because there's a world out there that needs to hear the Gospel and needs to be saved. It's the why, But how do we do it? By the power of God through the Gospel. It's the how as well. As the why. That's why the content matters so much. It's not an either or proposition, but a both and and then he says, in verse thirteen, follow the pattern of sound words that you've 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. This idea of the pattern of sound words, it's as though Paul is saying, here, not in essence, everything that you've ever heard me say, you're responsible and accountable for. Remember the New Testament, it's being written, it hasn't been written. This idea of the pattern of sound words is the idea that there is a confessional core. That Paul has. Repeated again and again and again that Paul has communicated to Timothy, and Timothy knows what this core is, and he's saying, hold on to that pattern of sound words, hold on to the content and the message of the Gospel. And herein lies the heart of discipleship fiercely relational, because people matter to God, and our desire is to see people come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and be brought to maturity in Him. And then on the other side of it, the content of the Gospel is of the utmost importance. Why because that's the very thing that is going to shape them and lead them to salvation faith, a life of obedience. And so we preserve and proclaim, and so we endure. I don't know. What it is that you have been called to endure. I don't know what those areas are where the adversary presses hard against you to try to move you away from that gospel center if you will. But whatever it is, endure it for the sake of the gospel, because we essentially have no hope. Beyond the Gospel. And if you'll go with me to chapter four, that's exactly how Paul summarizes. 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 by his kingdom, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and 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 myths. Ask for you always be sober minded, endure suffering. Do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. Let me leave you with this. Oftentimes we look at false teachers and false churches and we look at their popularity, and we say, these things are happening because we are failing in our discipleship. It's not necessarily the case. And I'm asking that question. I'm frequently asked that question. Why is it? Why is it that good that God allows these false teachers teachers to prosper, these false churches to grow? Why? Why? I mean, why is it? If I was God, I would just like. Mushroom cloud man, just right there in the middle of TV, somebody opens their mouth and tells a lie and then. Ashes. Why Why do these false teachers prosper? Why did these false churches grow? The answer is because the Bible is true. Listen to it again, for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves or heap up for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and will wander off into myths. False teachers will prosper. And false churches will grow, and it will happen because the Bible is true. How do we respond by continuing to preserve and proclaim the Gospel and by continuing to endure the suffering that will come inevitably as a result. And one of the ways that this leads to that kind of suffering is this, there is a world out there that hates the Gospel because they love their sin. And we're seeing this right now today. They hate the Gospel because they love their sin, and the Gospel is proclaimed. But then there are false teachers who are scratching itching ears and for example, same sex marriage. There are people out there who are now moving away from preserving the truth and basically are saying, you know what, I am a Christian and Christianity is wrong. I am embracing this lifestyle. And the world says yes, the enlightened ones. And the end result is. Those who are holding fast to the truth are now further marginalized, as people say, this is real Christianity because they're open, affirming, and tolerant and you are absolutely not like Jesus because you are a hateful bigot. Anybody heard Dad? Anybody be okay? This is a prime example of what we're talking about. A real right here, right now, example of what we're talking about. What are you going to do? Are you going to continue to preserve and proclaim or try to find some way. To alleviate the. Pain through compromise, and and that's that's just one of many examples. But here's what we know. People are not saved by hearing that which pleases them unless that which pleases them is the Gospel. Amen. And so what is desperately needed in our age, as in the Apostolic age, is. Those who will preserve and proclaim the Gospel and in turn. Endure the suffering that will come inevitably as a result of doing so. And as we make disciples, we have to hold these two things together. What is the heart of discipleship. The heart of discipleship is taking one under our wing somehow and saying to them, here's the gospel that you must preserve, here's the gospel that you must proclaim. And oh, by the way, let it sink deep in you, because as you preserve it and as you proclaim it, suffering. Will come your way. And the only way that you will endure it is by the power of God. Through the power of God. As this gospel saturates your whole life. That's the heart of discipleship, and we must not settle for anything less, because the stakes are far too high,