Endure: II Timothy 4:1-22 – God’s Faithfulness in Adversity

[0:00] As Jerry mentioned, this is going to be the last message in 2 Timothy. We have seen that Paul is encouraging Timothy to endure.

[0:15] And this is his most personal, I think Jerry said, emotionally charged, perhaps section of the Scripture that we have of this last letter to his younger, spiritual son, Timothy.

[0:29] Before we get to the text today, I just want to share with you things that I think are extremely shaping in a person's life.

[0:41] First among them would be being justified in Jesus Christ, being forgiven, being saved, being in Christ. And if you have never experienced that, I pray that today you would repent of sin and believe in Christ for your salvation, for the forgiveness of sin.

[0:59] But why is it that that is so magnificently shaping, being in Christ, knowing Him? Let me just read a few.

[1:10] We have access to God's grace. We've been adopted into the family of God and our God's sons and daughters. We have an inheritance. We are elected, chosen.

[1:22] We become a child of God. We have a heavenly citizenship. We become an heir of God. We become a new creation endowed with new affections.

[1:34] We become a servant of God. We become a priest of God. We become reconciled to God. We are sanctified, accepted in the beloved. We have been baptized into the body of Christ. We have the gift of His Son.

[1:45] We have been buried with Christ. We are endowed, dwelled with Christ. We possess eternal life. We have been saved in Christ. We have become a friend of God. We have our name recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life.

[1:56] We are sealed in Christ in the heavenly places. We are blessed. We have a blessed hope. We have a fellowship with eternity. We are placed and we have a place prepared for us in glory.

[2:08] We are born again. We have been anointed by the Holy Spirit. We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit. Our body becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit. We have been given spiritual gifts by the Holy Spirit.

[2:20] We are forgiven and justified, redeemed. We have an advocate. We have victory over sin and have become an ambassador of Christ.

[2:31] If that is not shaping and influencing in your life, it is chief among things that influences one's life.

[2:42] Knowing Christ, sins forgiven. Those were just 38 reasons I stopped. The next two are not necessarily in order of anything, but another thing that influences one's life is marriage.

[2:58] For those who have had the privilege of being married, and this is both, it can be a bad influence. There are some bad marriages and relationships within marriage that are a negative influence.

[3:11] I want to speak positively as well. There is the capital H, Holy Spirit, and there is a lower H, Holy Spirit, who is my wife, who shares with me from time to time, Scott, why did you do that?

[3:26] What is your motive in doing that? Or not doing that? How is it that you could have said that to me more lovingly? Those kinds of things. It arrests you.

[3:37] It stops you to think, oh, how am I leading my wife? That's a significant influencing factor in one's life is who you marry.

[3:50] For those who are unmarried, be mindful of who you marry and choose as your life partner, it will be significantly influencing in your life. Third, what church you remember of?

[4:03] What church you remember of? Whether one tends to be a letter of the law or a spirit of the law type of person, that has been influenced by probably the church you have attended.

[4:14] Whether how much you care about those who are without Christ, especially the unreached, those who do not have access to the gospel, who do not have access to the word of God, who do not have access to the name of Jesus Christ.

[4:28] How you think about those individuals has been influenced largely by the church you attended or are a member of. What category you place doctrines in?

[4:40] What doctrines you die for? Which doctrines you divide over? Which ones are just debatable? Which ones do you have the freedom to decide? However you think about those doctrines and what categories those are in, those have been influenced largely, probably by the church you attended and have been a member of.

[4:59] The place of authority of God's word, that influences the shape of a church body and influences. One's how gospel oriented you are and think in terms of.

[5:13] The church has helped shape your conscience through its teaching. Your understanding and appreciation of church discipline is affected by the churches you have been attending.

[5:24] You have been influenced positively and negatively through the local churches and the churches you have been a member of. How grateful you are as a person and has been affected by the church membership, your view of morality.

[5:40] And what is it that the church does? What privilege has the church been given that is so influencing and shaping in a person's life?

[5:55] Those three things, whether you're in Christ, your marriage and what church you've been a part of are significantly influenced. And chief among them with regard to the church, I want to say the privilege of teaching the word of God as God's gift to humanity, to us, the privilege of preaching and teaching the word of God is what is chief among them that is so influential that shapes a church culture, that shapes how you think about certain things.

[6:28] And it is that privilege that Paul is speaking to Timothy and saying you have a task, Timothy, that is chief among them and that is to preach God's word, to be a herald of God's word and we're going to talk about that.

[6:43] And that is the last charge that Paul gives Timothy and says give special attention to this wonderful instrument that you have been given, this tool to teach and preach God's word.

[6:57] Give attention to it because it's so life changing and life giving. So if you have a copy of Scripture, Jerry read to us the text that we're going to look at today and I want to share with you that last week we looked at a section of Scripture that I'm going to touch on a little bit and reference because I spoke last week largely of the general application to which the text refers to us all generally.

[7:33] But I want us to appreciate this is what's called, one of the, second Timothy is what's called a pastoral epistle. There's three pastoral epistles, that is a pastor's letter to a pastor, Paul's letters to pastors, so Titus and first and second Timothy.

[7:49] Those are the three pastoral epistles. So it's a specific letter to a specific individual for a specific purpose and we can apply that broadly and I did that more last week, but today I want to apply it more specifically to Paul's original intent.

[8:08] So look with me, we're going to get today to one last solemn charge that Paul has to his young spiritual son Timothy.

[8:19] Remember Paul is in Rome, he's in prison, he's in the Mamertin prison, he is not likely going to live much longer than this. He is writing to his Timothy who is in the town of Ephesus, Paul in prison in Rome, Timothy in Ephesus.

[8:35] And he has, he concludes his letter with one last charge. Timothy do this and what is the this?

[8:46] And we will look at that as the content of the message today. But first before we get to the charge, I wanted to look at the resource of the charge. This is where I'm going to go back into last week's message a little bit.

[8:57] Look with me in verse 16. If you will, you can actually go back to, yeah, 16. All scripture is God, is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

[9:18] The resource of the charge. Remember how Paul alluded to, he quoted them in, or he referenced them first in 2 Timothy chapter 1, but also here in chapter 3, Paul alludes to his grandmother and mother, Lois and Eunice.

[9:34] And he said, you had this great spiritual heritage, they taught you the word of God, Timothy, you should be so grateful for them, this wonderful tool. And then this is your resource, Timothy, to the last solemn charge I'm about to give to you.

[9:49] This is your resource, Timothy, all scripture. And he says that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Now last week, I applied that to all of us, that we all, men and women, are equipped because we have this reliable and useful resource in the word of God that we talked about last week, this reliable and useful resource in the word of God.

[10:10] But here I want to pay special attention, who is the man of God that Paul has specifically intended to be? Keep in mind, he says, hey, you had your grandmother and your mother, Lois and Eunice, they taught you these things from a very young age, Timothy, and they entrusted this word of God to you and you believed.

[10:32] And then you have grown, this is your tool, Timothy, all scripture, it's both profitable, it's useful, and it's reliable, this wonderful word of God, that you, the man of God, Timothy, the man of God here is a reference to like an Old Testament term, it's a messenger of God, he speaks the word of God on behalf of God, to the people of God, that's who the man of God was in the Old Testament.

[10:58] So this is Timothy's role, you're the man of God, Timothy, that you, Timothy, may be complete and equipped for every good work that you have charged as a pastor at the church at Ephesus.

[11:14] You, Timothy, be that man of God, and that word of God is reliable and useful, it is everything you need to function for this last charge. So I wanted to, we had to go back last week a little bit to see the resource of the charge.

[11:31] Second, we see the seriousness of the charge. So then, chapter 4 verse 1 reads, I charge you therefore, in the presence of God, and in Jesus Christ.

[11:45] The seriousness of the charge, I charge you. Paul is giving a forceful order and a directive to Timothy. Paul wants to capture Timothy's undivided attention.

[11:56] Those who are called to proclaim and interpret God's word is the most profound responsibility the Lord places on a man, he says, I charge you, take this very seriously, Timothy.

[12:10] Those who teach God's word while imperfect must take special care to know God's word, avoid error, besmirch in any way the Lord's name, and shroud the gospel in any way.

[12:27] And notice the seriousness of the charge, he charges them, but then he says, in the presence of God and of Jesus Christ. I am giving you this charge, in the presence of God and in Jesus Christ.

[12:41] God is watchful. When you are a teacher of God's word, when you're an elder, a pastor, a preacher, a teacher of class, God is present.

[12:52] Teaching and preaching will always be done under the watchful eye of the Lord Jesus. A pastor is to preach, a teacher is to teach, knowing that they will give us special attention, that God will pay special attention to that activity.

[13:11] The careful ministering of God's saving life, the saving life-giving word that declares accurately who God is and what he has done on behalf of humanity, is to be done for God's glory's sake, and to be done with utmost care in the presence of God and of Jesus Christ.

[13:32] The second way, the solemnity of this charge, this solemnness, the seriousness of this charge is given, is communicated, is that God stands as judge.

[13:43] Who is the judge of the living and the dead? God stands as judge. The portrait that God is the judge. The preacher, when he teaches, has a unique accountability to God, not as Savior or Lord, but as judge.

[13:56] The Lord is present, if you will, in the room, and he's watchful of how one handles the word of God, and it's for this reason that James says, not many of you ought to become teachers, brothers.

[14:10] For you know that we who teach will be judged with a greater strictness. That those who teach and preach God's word will be given to a higher account to the Lord, with greater strictness.

[14:28] To illustrate this seriousness and this fearful expectation of being judged, John Knox, a reformer in the 1500s, he prayed this.

[14:40] He's the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. He's an amazing man, but he prayed one time, Lord, give me Scotland or I die.

[14:51] I mean, that's how much he had a heart for his kindred men in Scotland. Give me Scotland or die. That's Lord, please, would you let me do that? But when he felt like the Lord was calling him to preach, knowing this, that the Lord is present, and he will be received a stricter judgment, this is John Knox's response.

[15:13] He locked himself in a room, and he wept for days because of the fearful seriousness of the calling. That was John Knox.

[15:24] Paul wanted Timothy to understand the seriousness of being a teacher of God's word and being devoted to it as well. Hugh Latimer, a contemporary of John Knox, so John Knox is up in Scotland.

[15:37] Hugh Latimer is in England, is in London. He grew as a powerful Catholic bishop in England, but he became convinced of the claims of Christ, and he placed his faith in Christ, and Hugh Latimer came to be one of the most powerful, Protestant reformers of his time there in England, and specifically around London.

[16:03] He was a powerful pastor and a gifted preacher. He advocated for the need for the English translation, which had just been done by William Tyndale, but William Tyndale was a martyr for having done that, and King Henry VIII, who Hugh Latimer was in England at the time as contemporary ruling, Henry VIII had outlawed the English translation from being used in England, but Hugh Latimer was convicted and convinced we must teach the word of God.

[16:39] Henry VIII, he was no nice man. You can remember a little new mnemonic device about his marriages. He had six wives, and divorce beheaded died. Divorce beheaded survived, so it's a little mnemonic device I use to remember the wives.

[16:54] The last one was Queen Mary I, Bloody Mary. She was a horrific person, and it was actually under her after King Henry died that Hugh Latimer died, but here's what was said to Hugh one time.

[17:09] He was before King Henry VIII, and he was going to address the king with regard to his divorces, and that was sinful, sinful against God, and he could not condone a king doing that.

[17:24] And one of the courtsmen said, Latimer, Latimer, say nothing that would offend the king's ears, because he knew this courtsman in the king's court knew.

[17:37] Latimer, he has no problem killing people, and don't tell him something he doesn't want to hear. But Latimer preached and told the king what he did not want to hear.

[17:50] He was ultimately burned at the stake by his wife after he had died, because he had spoken against that remarriage. She's a nice lady.

[18:01] But this is what Latimer said. So as he approached being burned at the stake, Latimer said, God is faithful.

[18:12] Then he was tied to the stake, and this is what he said to another pastor who was next to him who was also being burned at the stake at the same time. His name, he was a powerful pastor as well.

[18:23] His name was Nicholas Ridley, and this is what Hugh said to Mr. Ridley as they're both about to be burned. Play the man, be of good cheer, Mr. Ridley. We shall on this day light such a candle by God's grace in England as such I trust never will be put out.

[18:43] Indeed, the fan of flame of Reformation and God's word did go throughout England and much of the world in parts due to their influence. When you know that God is your ultimate judge and you will ultimately stand before Him and stand accountable to Him, oh how it helps one live and teach God's word in freedom.

[19:09] It defangs humans when you know you're going to face God as judge. So teach the word of God, preach the word of God. The point, fear God more than man.

[19:21] We will give an account of the Lord Jesus Christ for willing to speak boldly and have the exclusivity of Christ, and we die.

[19:34] Number two, so we have so far this solemn charge that Paul is communicating to them. We have the resource, the word of God is what you need to preach.

[19:47] We have the seriousness of the charge that God is going to stand as judge and where God is as if God is within the room when you preach and teach. So then we have the content of the charge. What exactly is even the charge that we're talking about?

[20:00] What is the charge? First two, three words, preach the word. Preach the word. The heart, right now you guys are getting a glimpse into a pastor's job description.

[20:19] The heart of every calling and of every pastor is to preach the God's word. Timothy was being charged by Paul to preach the word. That was his charge.

[20:30] Nothing what Paul was encouraging Timothy to be was anything other than a man who proclaimed God's word. Today there's pressures to be a good counselor, to establish the vision of the church, to manage a church budget, to make house calls and hospital visits, to establish an incredible men's and women's and children's ministry, to oversee premarital counseling, to officiate weddings and funerals, and all of these are important.

[20:58] But the primary task of a pastor, the primary task for Timothy was to preach the word. The word is often to preach is often the word herald.

[21:09] A herald was often one who would travel into a foreign country and declared judgment or surrender. So I would be a herald and I would go from my king to a foreign country and I would say this, listen, you either surrender or my king is bringing his judgment.

[21:30] It's called a big war and a battle and a lot of marching men and he's going to win. So either you repent or you surrender or face judgment.

[21:44] And so what is, if you will, the job of a pastor is to proclaim God's word and back in people to say surrender or face judgment, both to the lost, those without Christ.

[21:59] Surrender your life to Christ. Repent of sin. Believe in the life, death and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of sin or face judgment. Or to the saint, how did the saint to say, we too, the more days and hours that are added to our lives is the more opportunity to sin against our heavenly Father.

[22:24] He has paid for the penalty of sin. We are in Christ, but we still have flesh and we sin. And of that sin, surrender or face judgment.

[22:36] That message is good for the lost. It is good for the saved to be a herald and to preach the word. And that was your job to be this herald.

[22:49] This is why when we hear sermons and Bible studies, we hear the word of God and the Holy Spirit takes the word of God and convicts us of sin as we sit and that conviction ought to in turn cause a person, a child of God, to repent, surrender if you will or face judgment.

[23:15] This is why I often say conviction ought to be for the saint, our best friend. Conviction, we say, oh, I don't want to be convicted. Yes, you do. Oh, yes, you do.

[23:28] If, because if you don't like conviction, it's going to be surrender or face judgment. Judgment is coming. Please surrender. Conviction is your best friend. Respond to it.

[23:43] Have you ever thought about the difference between a summons and an invitation? So this is the season for invitations. The summer, a lot of weddings that occur, wedding invitations in the mail, graduation invitations, birthday parties, anniversary and an invitation is something that you can feel something like this.

[24:04] It's an invitation, but there's no obligation. You can accept it or you can decline. Probably there's low hard feelings about either choice, hopefully.

[24:17] So that's an invitation. I have never been on jury duty to my chagrin. I really look forward to that time, but my name has never been pulled and are drawn from the hat and, but I know this about jury duty, that jury do is duty.

[24:34] It's a summons to appear for jury duty. It's a summons. And if you don't show up without good reason, it's a misdemeanor. There's judgment that faces ignoring the summons.

[24:46] When someone heralds God's word and says surrender or face judgment, that is not an invitation. That is a summons. There's a difference when God's word is preached.

[25:00] And that is the commission that Paul gives Timothy and says, Timothy, preach God's word, be a herald of God's word, summon people to respond to me, surrender or face judgment.

[25:17] That is the content of the charge that Paul gives Timothy. Fourthly, what's the urgency? What is the urgency of the charge?

[25:33] Thirdly, what's the urgency of the charge?

[25:48] Thirdly, what's the urgency of the charge? And they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.

[26:03] The urgency is given that there is a time that is coming where people will not endure sound doctrine, sound teaching and have itching ears. So he says to him, there's an urgency, so be ready.

[26:18] This thing that you are called to be, or sorry, verse two, be ready in season and out of season. There's an urgency of the charge because we are to be ready. The pastor, the preacher is to be urgent, to be prepared, to be ready.

[26:32] There should be a sense of readiness and willingness to serve the Lord at any cost at any time. Not only should characterize the faithful pastor and preacher and teacher, but also for every faithful Christian.

[26:44] Only a continual study of God's word and fellowship with him in prayer, a submission to him as Holy Spirit, will keep a sense of exhilaration and eagerness to preach God's word.

[26:56] Be ready in season and out of season when it's convenient and when it is not. When it is satisfying and when it is not. When from a human perspective it is suitable and when it is not.

[27:10] The word of God must not be dictated by popular culture or tradition, or the esteem of a community, but it is by mandate of the Lord. We are not to preach a movie or a song or modern psychology, not opinions, not political statements, not some hobby horse that we are to ride and beat the church with.

[27:33] That is not what determines what a person says, a preacher says. It is the word of God. There are three roles that a preacher does when he preaches and it says to reprove, rebuke, exhort.

[27:50] To rebuke and correct, when the preacher preaches, what is he doing? He reproves and corrects. He carries the idea of correcting a misbehavior or false doctrine. To rebuke on the other hand has to do with the heart of bringing a person under conviction of guilt, to refute error and misconduct is done by a careful biblical argument.

[28:15] To rebuke is to bring an error person into repentance. So what is the difference between the two? Correcting and reproving discloses the sinfulness of sin.

[28:26] Rebuke discloses the sinfulness of the sinner. And then what is a pastor to do after that is to exhort. Having been rebruped and reproved, the disobedient believer under his care, the faithful preacher then is to come alongside of them and love and encourage them to spiritually change.

[28:50] But notice also it's not just what the preacher says, but it is how he says it. Look with me on the bottom of verse 2. Yes, he's to rebuke, reprove and exhort, but to do so with complete patience and teaching.

[29:03] You know this as well as I do. Let's assume you want to make some organizational change with the company you work for. And you go to your employer and you say, hey, we need to do this.

[29:15] But the manner in which you do it is you blow up the whole organization. You send an email out to every employee and tell them of the conversation that you just had with your supervisor and tell them the need for the change.

[29:29] Now, do you think that will warm the heart of your supervisor? No. So it's not just what you do, it's how you do it. And here we are to reprove, rebuke and exhort.

[29:47] Paul is telling to Timothy, you do that to your church at Ephesus, but with complete patience. You're to do that with complete patience and teaching. I know of a pastor in town who, and I will do this someday, likely.

[30:04] But he apologizes to his church a couple of times, not for what he said, but for how he said it. And I so appreciated the humility of that pastor to say, I abused my people and I stood before them and apologized for how I said it.

[30:24] Oh, it matters both what you say and how you say it. You know this, I know this. Number five, the nature of the charge is given.

[30:43] Number five, verses four and five. They will accumulate, we see that in not do or sound teaching. They will accumulate for themselves, teachers to suit their own passions for they will turn aside.

[30:58] So what is the urgency? It says that the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching. Paul is giving a stern warning to Timothy that even in professing Christendom, there is going to be an increasing appetite for error over truth.

[31:15] Only sturdy pastors can put up with the unstable congregation and there is going to be a contingency of stubborn resistance abasing truth.

[31:26] And notice the succession of events. First listeners go and put up with an endure, they no longer put up with an endure sound doctrine. That's step one. Number two, they amass teachers to suit their own desires.

[31:39] And thirdly, they want someone to say something that would satisfy their itching ears. They want someone to dabble in novelty, dabble in spicy bits of information.

[31:52] They covet new and fashionable ideas long for the excitement of not missing out. And are satisfied with pseudo scholarship.

[32:05] This appeals to those who have a wanderlust and are unfamiliar with the ideas of the unbeaten moral paths. Such teachers leave audiences intellectually informed.

[32:17] Their consciences are unchallenged and they set a direction away from the Lord. That's what occurs. It's interesting today. I read a report in 2021 where Bethany Christian Services, which is the largest Christian adoption agency in America, they decided in 2021 to adopt to gate couples and the LGBTQ community.

[32:46] So here's this Christian adoption agency and they are choosing to put families into a family structure that God has said that's sinful. But listen what is more disruptive to me.

[33:00] In order to make that decision, Bethany hired the Barna group, a Christian polling institution. And Barna polled Christians to ask them some questions.

[33:16] And they did a survey and they found that most Christians are accepting of a gay family structure. So because of this acceptance of this family structure, Barna then informed Bethany that this is what people think.

[33:32] And so then Bethany made that decision. So here's why that's so troubling to me. What is that a reflection of? Us. Where did Barna get its information?

[33:45] Us. So to say that this is not occurring and it doesn't matter, it does matter.

[33:56] It does matter. It affects the health of a church. We are living.

[34:10] Let us be a church who is committed to preaching the whole truth of God's word, even the parts that we do not want to hear. One of the things I appreciate about consecutive expositional preaching, that is going through books of the Bible, consecutive expositional preaching, exposition means the content and the intent of the author forms the content and the intent of the message preached.

[34:35] So why do I like walking through books of the Bible is because we'll have to come to subjects that I really don't really prefer to talk about. They're kind of touchy. They're kind of sensitive.

[34:46] I remember telling a pastor, hey, a few years ago, hey, I'm going to go through the book of 1 Corinthians and they said, oh, it's like the last book of the Bible that I would want to preach to my church.

[35:02] And I asked him, well, why? And he said, do you know how many controversial things you'll have to address are in the book of 1 Corinthians? And I was young and dumb and so I was like, what?

[35:17] Oh, like divorce and remarriage and sign gifts and spiritual gifts and all of that. You're going to have to handle all that. And he said, I would rather not be divisive in my church. And I thought, maybe I don't want to teach 1 Corinthians.

[35:31] But that's the beauty. It's in God's word. Preach the word. And you're going to have to come to subjects you don't want to talk about. And that are hard and are sensitive. And you would prefer all other reasons say, I would rather avoid that.

[35:44] But I love teaching through a book of the Bible because if it's in there, it's authoritative. It's inspired by God. It's given to us for a very good reason. So preach it.

[36:00] Stephen Carnock, another English Puritan said, when we believe that we should be satisfied rather than God be glorified in our worship, then we put God below ourselves as though he had made us.

[36:14] He has been made for us rather than we have been made for him. Let us humble ourselves. And then last, the nature of God's, the nature of Paul, of the charge is pretty personal because he says, be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of the evangelist, fulfill your ministry, Timothy.

[36:42] That's my charge to you. It's very personal. The nature of the charge is very personal. And this sober-mindedness is metaphorically speaking, be level-headed, well-balanced, controlled, and won faculties and facilities.

[37:02] It describes someone who is stable and unwavering and steadfast, who is on alert and endure suffering. We've been talking about the whole sermon series is called Endure.

[37:17] Suffering is an expectation for us. We need to recalibrate our expectations to include suffering. And he says to Timothy, endure suffering.

[37:29] What's interesting is if you read Book of Hebrews, you know where Timothy ended up. The author of Hebrews in chapter 14 says, we find Timothy in prison. Endure suffering.

[37:40] You may be persecuted for this. And he ends up in prison. All of this to say, this is the solemn charge. This is the solemn charge that Paul has to Timothy.

[37:53] And he says, I know you're there in Ephesus. Timothy, preach the word.

[38:04] Pastors are called to do many things, but most important among them should be the centrality of the preaching ministry. He is to devote himself wholly to that task.

[38:17] All of us are necessary in the God's church. There are feet and eyes and ears. And we can't do without any of them.

[38:29] But I would say because of what I see in the totality of Scripture, that the heart, the lifeblood of the church is the teaching ministry of the church.

[38:41] So fourth, why am I sharing this with you? In part, I forget the statistic, but the average person goes to many different churches over the course of one's lifetime.

[38:55] I wish there was some more commitment to a church body than I see in culture. But I would say this, if you find yourself ever moving out of Spokane, going to a church somewhere, and there are plenty of really good churches in Spokane, and I have many good pastor friends, I will say this, I cherish the churches that preach God's word faithfully.

[39:18] That should be chief among the things that you look for. It's a church that preaches faithfully the word of God. Please do that. That's the lifeblood of a church. Okay, next.

[39:31] I am Clint Eastwood, 1966, did a movie called The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I don't know if I've watched the movie or not. I'm not, this is not an advertisement.

[39:44] But I just found that movie title fitting for the last part of the book, and then we'll get into this. There's a middle section that I want to call your attention to, but I'm going to handle that last.

[39:55] So I'm going to the very end of the chapter, and then we'll come back. The end of the chapter is this. Beginning in verse 9, through the end of the chapter, we have The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

[40:06] The Good, Luke, it says, is with him alone, and so there are many others that are mentioned in the chapter, and I'm just going to spotlight a few. The Good, Luke, he's a faithful ministry companion.

[40:17] He alone is left with Paul in Rome, and I think about Luke being a physician. Perhaps he tended to Paul as he languished in prison. Mark, you have this formerly on the first missionary journey, or he turns back, and Paul didn't take kindly to that and didn't want to take Mark on the second missionary journey, but now he finds usefulness to Mark. I love that there's restoration there in that relationship, that now there's use for Mark.

[40:46] Ticacus is being sent to Ephesus, and likely Ticacus is the one who is carrying the letter to Timothy from Paul's prison in Rome, saying, here's a letter from Paul, it's coming from the hand, likely, of Ticacus.

[41:00] And so Timothy is being summoned to see Paul in Rome in prison, so perhaps Ticacus is the man who is taking the pastoral responsibilities while Timothy is away.

[41:11] We see old ministry friends mentioned, Priscilla and Aquila, Anisephorus. We see new ministry friends. So those are the good. There's a bad, Demis.

[41:24] In the Book of Philemon we see that Demis was called a fellow worker. Here's someone who used to work alongside of Paul and minister, and now he has abandoned Paul, and he has loved the present world.

[41:38] And then lastly, there's the ugly Alexander the Coppersmith. It says that he caused him great harm, and he's warning Timothy, I believe Alexander to be in Rome, because he's summoning Timothy to come see Paul, and he says, hey, there's this guy, Alexander the Coppersmith.

[41:57] He's done me much harm, Timothy. Watch out for him. So there's the ugly. Alexander gets more words about him in this chapter than all the rest do.

[42:09] He's a bad guy, and he caused him much harm. But that's not how I want to end the message. I want to end the message in verses 6, 7, and 8.

[42:23] After this charge, if I'm Timothy, I would think I am not worthy to handle the Word of God. I don't want to receive a stricter judgment. I don't want what this responsibility entails, and I feel like I am losing some confidence.

[42:40] Paul assures him and says, that's not so, Timothy. You don't need to feel this way for listen, for I am verse 6, already being poured out as a drink offering, and my time of my departure has come.

[42:53] I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness in the Lord, and the righteous judge, who will award me on that day, and not only to me, but all those who love is appearing.

[43:08] Timothy, stay faithful. And this is how I want to conclude. This week, Timothy Keller passed away. This Redeemer Presbyterian Church pastor in Manhattan, New York, who started many churches.

[43:23] He's written many books. For those of you reading the Prodigal God this last semester, he was the author of that, and Dean's class. And here is a man who has finished well.

[43:35] And there's things that I want to say, follow Paul's example. Paul, he had a life of sacrifice in the Lord, and he benefited others. His victory abides with those of a life of sacrifice, and there is a reward for knowing Christ, and a life of self-sacrifice. That's evident in this passage.

[43:56] But I want to get real specific with us to conclude to say, how is it that we could end well? All of us want to end well and finish our lives and our ministry well.

[44:07] No one wants to say, I want to ruin my life. No one wants to be a demis who loves this present world and is no longer a worker for the Lord. So what would I say?

[44:20] Firstly, and I don't have a slide for this, but let me just say this. Spend daily time of focused personal communion with the Lord. Psalm 274 reads this.

[44:33] One thing I have asked of the Lord that I will seek after, that I will dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire of his temple.

[44:47] The beauty of the Lord was not a physical beauty that the Psalmist is writing about. The beauty of the Lord is his attributes. It is the beauty of the cross, the beauty of what he has done for us in Christ.

[45:00] And the Psalmist said, I just want to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. I want to have communion with God. This is what is the focus of my time.

[45:11] All of us what I find as I'm aging, I'm not that old, but as I'm aging, I find myself justifying selfish seeds of thought in my heart.

[45:26] And what will change that daily time of focused personal communion with the Lord? Pastor Jay, when he concludes, or last week, let me just say it this way.

[45:41] Last week, I encouraged us to read through the New Testament. On the resource board as you exit, there's a worksheet of a daily checklist of reading to read through the New Testament in 90 days.

[45:56] I encourage you to take that this summer to spend time with the Lord, to have daily communion with the Lord that we may finish well. Second, have a daily commitment to God as a living sacrifice.

[46:11] I appeal to you, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holding and accepting to God, which is your spiritual worship, Romans 12-2.

[46:22] Lord, give me my whole body, my mind, my soul, my service, my money, everything about me. I consecrate it to you, and we do that daily. It's a daily task to daily commit myself to live as a living sacrifice unto the Lord.

[46:39] Like many of you, I have signed over the title of a car to a new owner, gifting a car to somebody else. And sometimes we like to loan cars, then give them away.

[47:00] What I mean by that, and we treat our lives this way, is that we will have service of a car for a while, and then we turn it back. And what I don't want us to do is to think of ourselves as being on loan from the Lord.

[47:16] That I guess I'll serve you for a while, and then I may not. I don't want to do that. I would rather sign the title of our car over to someone else with no ownership rights whatsoever.

[47:30] And that's how I want us to treat ourselves with the Lord, that, Lord, you have the title of my life. Everything about me today, and tomorrow, and for the rest of my life.

[47:43] I am no longer my own. You have bought me with a price, and it is too marvelous to me. Daily, I'm reminding myself, I turn the title over of my life to you.

[47:56] Would we do that? To finish well, thirdly, and lastly, have a firm belief in the sovereignty and the love of God.

[48:10] We will experience pain and difficulties, and we want to endure to the end, and we want to stand firm in the face of difficulties and pain.

[48:21] We must have a firm belief in the sovereignty and the love of God. Lamentations reads this, Who has spoken, and it will come to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?

[48:35] Is it not from the mouth of the most high that good and bad come? We have a firm understanding and belief, and grasp on God's sovereignty, and also accompanying that His love.

[48:48] He has proven His love for you and me on the cross. So whatever happens, I can both believe in God's sovereignty, and I can believe in His love for me.

[48:59] Without question, and I think those three daily disciplines, let me say them one more time. A daily time of focused personal communion with God. Daily, spend time with the Lord.

[49:11] Word of God in prayer. Second, daily have a commitment of a living sacrifice, reminding yourself, I've given over the title to my life to the Lord.

[49:22] I've signed myself holy, I am not my own, I live for you, and I present my life as a living sacrifice to you, Lord, daily. Third, have a firm belief in understanding that God is sovereign, and He is extremely loving.

[49:39] So that we too may say, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith, and there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that day, but only to me, but those who also have a love to disappearing.

[49:59] May that be said of us. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for this day.

[50:11] Thank you for your word. Lord, I pray that we would live in a state that when we die, we would live and die unashamed, that we have lived for you, Lord, that we would finish well.

[50:33] Thank you for Paul's example of a life lived for you at all cost. Thank you for this beautiful thing that you've given us, your very word of God, that is sufficient for salvation, that is sufficient for life.

[50:49] Thank you for sharing with us who you are and how we can know you better. We love you, Lord. You are precious to us and it's in your name we pray. Amen.