Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #20260429 - Continue In The Things Which You Have Learned - 2 Timothy 3

Transcript

#20260429 - Continue In The Things Which You Have Learned - 2 Timothy 3 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

0:05
Welcome to the study of God's Word recorded live at Calvary
0:09
Church in Aurora, Co. To learn more about the many
0:12
resources available through Abounding Grace Media or to tune
0:15
into our live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co
0:20
dot Church or download our free Calvary Church app.
0:25
Now let's open our Bibles and study God's Word.
0:30
I've entitled tonight's study continue in the things that you
0:34
have learned and that one verse stands out quite a bit in in
0:42
this chapter as I look at this chapter.
0:44
And and so I've chosen that as the the title of the chapter.
0:49
But before we get started, let's let's begin with the word of
0:54
prayer. OK, Father in heaven, we thank
0:58
you. Thank you so much for the gift
1:01
of the Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord, that as we read
1:05
your word, inspired by the Holy Spirit that we can not only get
1:10
information, but inspiration that we can hear your voice
1:15
speak to us directly. And so, Lord, we're asking in
1:19
Jesus name that you administer to us as we cover these words,
1:24
these sections here in chapter 3.
1:28
And so, Lord, open our hearts, give us a heart to hear and
1:31
understand. And we give this this evening to
1:35
you in Jesus name, Amen. For those of you unfamiliar with
1:43
Second Timothy, these were Paul's last words.
1:48
He is in the Mamertine prison, in the lower part of the prison.
1:52
He's chained to a Roman soldier, at least one, and he knows that
1:58
his execution is coming. He has had an appeal before
2:03
Caesar, which didn't go well, and you'll see that as you go
2:09
into chapter 4. And so he wants to impart to his
2:16
son in the faith, Timothy, the things he feel would help him
2:22
because he's not going to be there.
2:24
He's going to be gone. I mean, if you knew that you
2:29
only had a few weeks, what would you say?
2:33
What would you write down? And these are Paul's last words.
2:39
And he's writing on parchment, leaves those little sections of,
2:44
of parchment and and those parchments are being carried,
2:48
but probably by Tychicus to Ephesus where Timothy is.
2:54
And he, he makes an appeal, especially in the next chapter.
2:57
Please come before winter, bring the cloak that I left.
3:03
And and there's this appearance as you read through, or the
3:07
sense that it was a quick apprehension and he had to leave
3:11
things behind and winter was approaching.
3:16
And he begs Timothy to come as soon as possible.
3:20
Be diligent to come quickly. Those are powerful words,
3:24
powerful last words. Bring the cloak, come before
3:29
winter. He doesn't complain.
3:33
He just lays it out. But in this chapter probably
3:38
this chapter here is one of his most personal appeals to son
3:43
Timothy in chapter 1 we entitled it continue.
3:49
Excuse me, stir up the gift of God which is in you in chapter 2
3:54
endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
3:58
And so then tonight is continue in the things which you have
4:03
learned from me. So I'm going to take chapter 3
4:07
and I'm going to be dividing it into two parts.
4:10
Those of you taking notes, here are the two parts of the
4:14
chapter. The first part is called
4:16
Perilous Times will Come, verses one through 9.
4:21
And the second part is practice what you have learned, and
4:26
that's verses 10 through 17. Perilous times will come and
4:30
practice what you've learned. And may the Lord speak to our
4:34
hearts by the Holy Spirit. So follow along with me.
4:39
I'm going to read the first 5 verses of the first section and
4:44
these are the characteristics of the last days.
4:47
And Paul can catch this even though he's in prison.
4:50
Just the whole feel of the Roman Empire at this time with Caesar
4:55
Nero in charge. Now we don't know what happened
4:58
when he made his appeal, his final appeal before Caesar Nero.
5:04
I bet he gave the strongest gospel witness he ever gave in
5:08
his life. And there are some Bible
5:10
commentators that think this was the point where Nero ended up
5:14
becoming demon possessed because he reject the witness.
5:17
But there's no proof on that and so here's the 1st 5 verses.
5:24
But know this that in the last days perilous times will come.
5:30
For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,
5:35
boasters, proud blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
5:42
unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers without
5:50
self-control, brutal despisers of good traitors, headstrong,
5:58
haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God having
6:04
a form of godliness, but denying its power.
6:08
And from such people turn away. Now in verse one Paul says in
6:16
the last days perilous times will come.
6:19
Understand that this term last days occurs five times in the
6:22
New Testament. And in the Old Testament, the
6:26
same term is, is usually translated latter days in the
6:30
latter days. And the Bible refers to the last
6:34
days as that last period of time from the incarnation of the Lord
6:39
Jesus to the leading up to and the including of the return of
6:43
Jesus from heaven literally. And so it's probably really, we
6:49
should probably even use the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
6:53
to really kick off the last days because that's that's when the
6:57
Holy Spirit fell upon the church, like a 50 days later
7:01
after his resurrection. But we are in the period of time
7:06
the Bible calls the last days or the latter times.
7:11
And it's been a long time. It's been centuries, even to
7:16
millennia, and we're still in that period.
7:21
But understand that Jesus in Matthew chapter 24 called it
7:28
similar to a woman who is getting ready to give birth,
7:34
going through labor pains, the beginning of sorrows.
7:38
And that's where the intensity of the contractions begin to
7:42
become more severe and more frequent.
7:46
And I think that's what we're seeing today, even in the news
7:50
today. I mean, you look at the nations
7:53
that are described there in Ezekiel 38.
7:57
And these nations are, are forming a strong alliance and an
8:04
alliance that have has never been that way in the whole
8:07
history of, of of the world. And we're in the latter latter
8:13
times of the latter days. And so Paul is telling Timothy,
8:21
who's in Ephesus, it's going to get difficult because he calls
8:28
them perilous times. And the the word that Paul used
8:32
for perilous was only used one other time in the New Testament,
8:37
and that was to describe the violence of the demon possessed
8:41
men that Jesus cast the legion of demons out of.
8:46
That's the only other time that Greek word was used.
8:51
Galapaos is the Greek word hard to bear, troublesome, dangerous.
8:58
And from Paul's vantage point, he could sense the spiritual
9:01
darkness growing around him ever so strongly.
9:05
And I want you to know as a believer, the Holy Spirit lives
9:09
in you and you can get that sense and that spiritual
9:14
discernment on, on the culture and the days in which you live.
9:20
Now, we are living in a Western culture, but there are so many
9:24
other cultures in the world that are even that that are just so
9:28
terrible to live in. And there are believers that are
9:34
choosing to stay there because they believe, first of all, God
9:38
has put them there. And secondly, if I leave, who's
9:42
going to tell them about the gospel of Christ?
9:45
And so they're dedicated. They're they're focused.
9:49
They're not will willing to run from difficulties.
9:53
And why does Paul say this to scare Timothy?
9:56
No, he's saying listen, understand, harden yourself,
10:00
Timothy, get ready for the reality that it's not going to
10:04
get better. It's going to get more
10:07
difficult. But you're there.
10:10
God has placed you there, Tim, and and you can do this.
10:15
And the very first description of these perilous times is in
10:19
verse 2 where he says men will be lovers of themselves.
10:25
And I think in this whole list here, which sounds very similar
10:29
to Romans chapter one, in this whole list, lovers of
10:33
themselves, the Greek word philetos phileo autos, which
10:39
means being fondly affectionate of self.
10:43
Oh, it's all about me. Yes, You know, it's just
10:47
everything goes back to me, me, me, me, as if you're getting
10:51
ready to sing. All of these things can spring
10:56
out of the root of lover of myself.
11:02
And that is going to become more and more strong.
11:07
And every one of these words unloving.
11:10
Verse 3 in the interesting word in the Greek because it it, it
11:17
has to do with storgios is the Greek word which is family love.
11:24
And a storgios means not or against family love, against the
11:30
natural affection of a family or a child.
11:37
And so it's all about self, my world, me.
11:41
I mean, the unholy Trinity is me, myself and I and, and, and
11:46
that unholy Trinity breeds all of these things because the
11:51
gospel is centered on others loving others, because God has
11:57
loved me. Even love your enemy, even love
12:01
your enemy because God loved you when you were an enemy of his.
12:08
God pursued you. God persevered in showing His
12:12
love to you, God continued. He did not give up on you and
12:17
those that are following His Son are to let that love fill their
12:22
life. You know you cannot manufacture
12:25
God's love. I mean you got to get this
12:27
straight. You cannot manufacture God's
12:31
love. It has to come from heaven.
12:34
God wants you to be a distributor, but not a
12:37
manufacturer because true godly love only comes from him by way
12:44
of the Holy Spirit. Our job is to be a distributor.
12:50
Just like you've got all these distribution centers from
12:53
Amazon, they bring all these products in from who knows
12:57
where, these warehouses and then their distribution centers, they
13:02
don't manufacture them, they distribute them.
13:05
That's Our Calling as believers. But in the last days, the whole
13:09
world around us is going to be so much the opposite.
13:14
And so you read this and it comes down to verse 5 having a
13:18
form of godliness but denying its power.
13:24
You know, I went to church when I was a little kid and I heard
13:27
all the stories of Jesus down in the basement in the church, all
13:32
the little flip charts and all. I mean, I go way back, you know,
13:35
I'm like 150 years old, you know, with flannel graphs and
13:39
all the rest. And, and I heard all the
13:42
stories, but there wasn't a connection with sin and
13:47
salvation until age 18. And I turned, I rebelled from
13:53
that whole thing, but at age 18, the Lord apprehended me because
13:59
God never gave up on me. I'm sure my parents prayed for
14:03
me. They were believers.
14:07
And God's not going to give up on you.
14:11
But I just want to tell you, the world around you is going to get
14:14
worse spiritually. We're not talking about
14:18
morality. We're talking about intense
14:21
spiritual warfare. Timothy understand that in these
14:27
last days, perilous times are coming, dangerous times hard to
14:32
bear and people are going to sneak into houses, house
14:37
churches with a form of godliness, but have no Holy
14:41
Spirit power in their life. It's all dead religion.
14:48
And he says here from such people turn away and then he
14:53
gives the reason. And this is what he says in
14:57
verses 6 through 8. For of this sort are those who
15:02
creep into households and make captives of gullible women,
15:07
loaded down with sins, LED away by various lusts, always
15:13
learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
15:17
Now as Janice and Jamberries resisted Moses, so do these also
15:23
resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds disapproved
15:27
concerning the faith, but they will progress no further, for
15:31
their folly will be made manifest to all, as theirs also
15:37
was. Well, let's take a look at verse
15:39
6. It says in verse 6 for of this
15:43
sort are those who creep into households.
15:47
OK, now it's kind of creepy all by itself, but what is what he's
15:52
referring to are the house churches, because it wasn't like
15:56
a big auditorium like this in Ephesus.
15:58
There were small house churches that the believers gathered in.
16:03
And so Paul, in all of his journeys and setting up churches
16:07
and visiting other churches, had watched this happen again and
16:12
again. And so he says to Timothy of
16:16
this sort are those who creep into households and make
16:19
captives of gullible women. Now understand here he is.
16:24
He is not picking out women on purpose here, but from what he
16:30
has watched as he's gone through the different churches in the
16:33
Mediterranean world, these small churches, there has there has
16:37
been this leading of and the word gullible here is, is one
16:44
word that describes 3 things he says here.
16:48
Loaded down with sins, LED away by various lusts, always
16:53
learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
16:57
So let's look at those three because it really defines what
17:01
he's talking about with gullible.
17:03
OK, loaded down with sins. What this means is not living in
17:10
a state of repentance over sinful behaviors and attitudes.
17:16
Knowing about it, but just saying doesn't apply to me and
17:19
continuing in sin. And yet being in the midst of
17:23
these small house churches to draw from, maybe they just need,
17:28
you know, companionship or it's just fun or the that it's
17:33
interesting. But they haven't repented of the
17:37
sins that dominate their life. That's why he says loaded down.
17:42
And the the picture is like a donkey with a with a load that
17:46
is so heavy its legs are buckling.
17:52
That's a problem. That's a problem in the church.
17:56
A lot of people go to church for a lot of different reasons,
18:00
because sometimes in some churches, sin is never
18:03
mentioned. Repentance is never a word that
18:07
even comes out because after all, we don't want to scare
18:09
people away. But what's the gospel all about?
18:13
It's about, you know, it's John the Baptist.
18:16
Repent Jesus. That was his message.
18:19
Repent and believe the gospel loaded down with sins and it's
18:26
going to get worse. Number two, LED away by various
18:30
lusts. Their life is led by the
18:34
passions and desires of the flesh life rather than the word
18:38
of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
18:43
And that's frequently what happens as people get together
18:51
and all they're looking for. I just want to find a wife.
18:55
I want to go to one of those Christian churches because I
18:57
want to. I want a good woman.
18:59
I mean, are you joking? Do you know what you're saying?
19:04
You just, you're blind to what you're saying here.
19:06
Well, where am I going to find a good woman?
19:08
I can't find them in the bars. You know, I've tried and, and
19:11
can you hear yourself? Let's just start with you,
19:15
buddy. You know, I mean, OK, let's not
19:20
go there. OK, Sorry.
19:24
It's just I've had these counseling sessions that like
19:27
flood my mind and I'm going, wow, OK #3 always learning and
19:34
never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
19:37
You know the word knowledge is important here because the word
19:41
knowledge in the Greek means a precise experiential knowledge.
19:50
That means born again. That means there has been a
19:56
transformation on the inside. It's not enough just to
20:07
understand the gospel. You have to surrender your life
20:12
to the gospel and you have to ask yourself, are you always
20:19
learning and never able to come to an A precise experiential
20:23
knowledge? It happened in the 1st century,
20:30
it happens now. I went to church always
20:35
learning, never able to come to the knowledge of the truth until
20:41
that one night when the Lord boxed me in and I knew it was
20:47
right. They can repeat the information
20:52
presented in church, but they don't internalize those those
20:55
truths by repentance and humility.
20:59
And Paul is just writing this from experience.
21:03
He's been doing this a long time and it's a good warning for us
21:11
today. Always learning and never able
21:15
to come to the knowledge of the truth.
21:20
It's interesting in verse 8, he says now as Janice and
21:24
Jamberries resisted Moses, who are they?
21:27
It sounds like a a rock group. You know, Janice and Jamberries
21:32
kind of like the rock group deviated septum.
21:35
You know, it's a who are these guys?
21:39
Well, it's believed in context, it's believed that that they
21:44
were two of the magicians in Pharaoh's court who were
21:47
duplicating, they were duplicating Moses miracles.
21:54
And of course they came to the, that that third, I think it was
22:00
the the frogs or something. I have to go back.
22:04
I didn't write it down. Then they couldn't do it.
22:08
And they said, oh, it's the finger of God.
22:11
You know, you know, there comes a part where Satan will mimic
22:15
the ways of God and then God says no more.
22:22
There's so many people chasing false gospels, false
22:28
philosophies, trying to find hope, trying to find purpose,
22:36
and the only real hope can be found in the gospel of Jesus
22:41
Christ and submission to it by repentance and humbling yourself
22:46
before God. Because the Bible says God
22:48
resists the proud. Even as a believer, when you get
22:54
off sidetracked and pride becomes the ruling thing in your
22:57
life, you're you're going to find this resistance from God.
23:02
He's going to be resisting you. Everything is going to start
23:06
being really hard because he can't bless you when pride is in
23:12
the way. Pride blocks the flow of God's
23:17
fullness in your life, He says. As Janice and Jamberries
23:23
resisted Moses, so did these also resist the truth.
23:27
Men of corrupt minds disapproved concerning the faith, but they
23:32
will progress no further, for their folly will be made
23:36
manifest to all, as theirs also was.
23:40
So in this first section, it's a, it's a warning to Timothy
23:43
saying, man, Tim, I know it's been hard and I know you're
23:47
watching all this. You watched me get arrested.
23:50
There were tears in your eyes. Who saw that in the 1st chapter.
23:54
But it's it's not going to get easier.
23:57
You've got to settle it in your heart.
24:00
I am going to do whatever is necessary to finish well.
24:06
I don't care how hard it's going to be because with the grace of
24:09
Christ, I can make it through. I can do all things to Christ
24:14
who strengthens me. I want to finish well and I'm
24:17
not going to run. That's Paul's heart here and
24:21
he's it's a plea to him. And then he goes into this
24:27
precious second, second part of the chapter, one of my favorite
24:33
sections, Timothy, practice what you have learned verses 10
24:37
through 17. And in the 1st 4 verses of that
24:42
section, 10 through 13, Paul is saying carefully follow my
24:47
patterns of discipleship. Here's what we read 10 through
24:51
13. But you have carefully followed
24:55
my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering,
25:03
love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which
25:09
happened to me at Iconium, at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra,
25:14
what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord
25:20
delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live
25:24
godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution, but evil men
25:30
and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being
25:36
deceived. When you look at this section
25:39
here, I like to see three different, three different
25:45
arenas that Paul is talking about #1 because I understand
25:52
this. Timothy had been walking with
25:54
Paul side by side for the last 15 years, 15 years or so.
26:01
And he had watched Paul in every kind of manner of life he had
26:08
gone through. Paul starts off in verse 10.
26:14
You have seen my doctrine, my manner of life, and my purpose.
26:19
This is his overall life witness.
26:22
And that's the first arena of discipleship.
26:25
Your life, not just what you say, it includes what you say.
26:29
Doctrine. You know what I teach, you know
26:33
what I believe, but you also know my manner of life, that I
26:38
live what I teach. What you see in public is also
26:44
what you see in private. There was no duplicity.
26:49
It was He. He was a living sermon, just
26:52
like we are to be if we're going to get into disciple in others.
26:56
It's not just what we say. Or take him through an 8 week
27:00
course. It's it's a long term.
27:03
What you see is what you get. This is what it looks like lived
27:08
out. This is my teaching and this is
27:12
how it looks like lived out behind closed doors in the home
27:16
and in public. Doctrine, manner of life and
27:20
purpose. Purpose is like this is my
27:24
calling, this is my focus, This is my this is my gyroscope.
27:29
I'm I'm going and I'm going to finish.
27:32
Well, the overall life witness, that's part of long term
27:37
discipleship. It can't be, it can't be set
27:41
aside. It's important.
27:44
The second arena is in the middle part of verse 10 called
27:48
life difficulties. That's part of what you show in
27:54
discipleship, how you go through trials.
27:59
You think, well, I'd rather not because it doesn't look so
28:02
pretty, but it's part of the witness, he says here, Timothy,
28:08
you have watched my faith in life difficulties.
28:13
You have watched my patience, my long-suffering in life
28:17
difficulties, and you have watched my agape love in
28:22
difficulties. I just want to say this,
28:26
parents, I know you want to take care of your kids better than
28:32
you were taken care of, but there are times God shuts off
28:36
the resources and you're thinking, I how can I do this to
28:42
my kids? Well, wait a minute.
28:44
It's God's will that those kids are in your life.
28:49
So rather than be moaning, saying, oh, you know, where's
28:52
the, where's the resources? You know, I need to get a job.
28:55
It's not enough. And the kids, you know, they
28:57
don't have, you know, they don't have the special tennis shoes
29:00
that they want and all I'm so sorry and, and, and you're
29:04
apologizing. Stop it.
29:06
Wait a minute. You realize what you're doing.
29:09
You're training them on how to behave when things are tough.
29:15
Instead, turn that around and talk to your kids and saying
29:23
there are times that life is going to get tough and we're
29:26
going to learn how to work through it.
29:29
And I'm looking at my son Micah over here.
29:32
I mean, we had those times. I remember that one Christmas
29:35
especially, you know, it's where you say the famous saying, you
29:39
know, boys, Christmas is more than presents.
29:45
And we said, how about, you know, there are lots of kids
29:49
that don't have anything. How about if you go into your
29:51
toy box and find a toy that that is not broken, but you don't use
29:56
anymore. And let's take it and let's wrap
29:59
it up as a Christmas present and let's find a homeless family
30:03
and, and let's give it to him for Christmas.
30:06
And and so you're thinking of all kinds of creative ways
30:09
because you don't have any money to buy Christmas presents.
30:12
And you know, and so you're going, OK, I'm going to turn
30:15
this around to be a discipleship moment.
30:18
Life difficulties. How do you deal with life
30:20
difficulties? Prayer, prayer and the focus in
30:25
God's promise to take care of you today, just today.
30:31
Let's break it down to today. That's part of long term
30:35
discipleship. And let me tell you, your kids
30:39
are your first disciples. And then the third arena is in
30:47
last part of verse 10 to verse 14, life threatening
30:52
circumstances. And so we see in verse 10 here,
31:00
perseverance, persecutions, afflictions.
31:10
Timothy, you've watched that. I mean, think about it.
31:13
Paul was stoned to death and carried outside the city and
31:18
that they thought he was dead. So what does your body look like
31:24
after you have had big boulders thrown at you on top of you,
31:29
enough to completely knock you out and kill you and then you
31:34
get up and walk in? What did you look like
31:37
afterwards? I mean not just bruises, but I
31:42
mean you. You looked really bad.
31:46
But he got up, patched himself up, went back into the same town
31:50
and then went to Lystra and Derby where that that's where
31:54
Timothy was. Timothy saw it with his own
31:58
eyes, but what he saw wasn't just the beaten up Paul.
32:04
He saw the character of Paul even in the midst of those
32:09
difficulties, even in the midst of those life threatening
32:13
circumstances. True discipleship is not a nine
32:17
week course, but a nine year apprenticeship.
32:22
And when you go through difficulties, it's God wants to
32:27
use it to show you his power. I mean, when I, when I think of
32:34
Luke, the Luke the physician man, how, how blessed is that,
32:39
that the Lord would bring a physician along to, to Apostle
32:42
Paul to keep patching him up because of the stuff he went
32:45
through. But Luke was always with them,
32:48
even to the very end. And Luke was there in chapter 27
32:55
on the shipwreck. I mean, hanging around Paul was
32:58
dangerous. You know, if Paul was going to
33:01
lead on a like a tour of the Holy Land, I wouldn't want to go
33:04
with him actually. But here's Luke.
33:08
Luke is there. He's writing.
33:10
He's writing how everything is absolutely collapsing on this
33:15
ship going across the Mediterranean in the storm.
33:20
And I like how Acts 27 puts it in in the new Living
33:25
Translation. In verse 18, the next day, as
33:30
Gale force winds continued to batter the ship, the crew began
33:35
throwing the cargo overboard. Verse 19, the following day,
33:41
they even took some of the ship's gear and threw it
33:45
overboard. In verse 20, the terrible storm
33:50
raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until
33:57
at last all hope was gone. Luke, where's your faith, buddy?
34:04
You know, I mean, he's writing this.
34:08
Have you ever come to the place in your life where you have come
34:14
to these last words, these last four words?
34:20
All hope was gone. That's a serious place to be.
34:35
This verse came to my mind this morning when I was doing divos
34:38
with the staff and I really felt it was a word of the Lord for
34:43
tonight and I had Matt put this in, there might be some of you
34:52
here tonight. That's your situation.
34:54
You feel like all hope is gone and you're in church is kind of
35:01
your last resort. You just don't know what to do.
35:04
Some of you listening online, you're driving down the road and
35:09
you've had those thoughts when you continue reading in that
35:17
section in Acts chapter 27. That was when an Angel of the
35:23
Lord appeared to Paul by night and said be of good cheer Paul,
35:31
I've given you all the crew. You're not going down, but the
35:36
ship is going down, but you'll all be all be spared.
35:45
Sometimes we're so afraid of the ship going down we forget who's
35:50
in really in charge. We're so afraid that I'll lose
35:57
everything. But I want to tell you I have
36:02
lost everything maybe two or three times in our family, and
36:06
the Lord has built it back. Instead of asking why is this
36:12
happening, ask what am I supposed to learn in this?
36:18
How am I supposed to to see you in the midst of the storm when I
36:23
can't see the sun or the stars for navigation?
36:28
When your GPS goes recalculating forever and you don't know where
36:33
you're going? And I know what that feels like.
36:38
All hope is gone. All hope is lost in the natural,
36:44
in the physical, but in the gospel, all hope is constantly
36:49
there. We're going to close here in a
36:58
little bit after we finish out these verses.
37:02
And I want to give you an opportunity to confess to the
37:07
Lord that that's really where you're at and you need Him to
37:15
come to you tonight and give you the hope that you need to not be
37:22
afraid. In verse 12, going back to
37:30
Second Timothy 3. Yes.
37:34
And all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer
37:39
persecution. The keyword is godly.
37:49
Not just having the tag of Christian on your lapel, but
37:56
when you choose to get serious with God and to live according
38:00
to the rules of His Kingdom, you can count on trouble.
38:04
There's already trouble in the world, but you can count on more
38:07
trouble. That's what the Bible tells us.
38:12
But here's the thing. God meets us in our persecution.
38:17
Sometimes we find out the presence of the Lord in a way we
38:21
never would have felt if we had not been in the midst of that
38:24
persecution. Paul continues on at verse 13.
38:30
But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving
38:34
and being deceived. But you, Timothy, but you must
38:41
continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of
38:46
knowing from whom you have learned them.
38:51
So Paul says, I know that I have been discipling you these past
38:55
15 years, and you got to continue in it.
38:59
You must continue in it. And then he reminds him in verse
39:05
15 that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures which
39:09
are able to make you wise, leading to salvation through
39:13
faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by
39:18
inspiration of God, Timothy, and is profitable for doctrine, for
39:23
reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness,
39:27
that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped
39:32
for every good work. Verse 14 tells Timothy, continue
39:37
in the things which you've learned, and the word continue
39:41
there means to remain as you are.
39:45
He doesn't tell Timothy, pack your bags and get out of there.
39:49
No, he doesn't. He says, Timothy, God has you
39:54
there for a reason and so now you need to tighten your belt.
40:00
You need to fall back on what you have learned from me over
40:03
these years and finish well. Finish well.
40:08
Don't run. It reminds me of the word of
40:13
Jesus in the Book of Revelation to the Church of Smyrna.
40:17
The second church he addresses in chapter 2 and he tells the
40:23
church in Smyrna. You'll have tribulation, 10
40:28
days. Be faithful unto death and I'll
40:32
give you a crown of life. He doesn't tell them Leave the
40:38
city, he says, stay there and endure.
40:46
I know what they're going to do, but you're there for my purpose,
40:52
my witness, my glory. Be faithful unto death and I'll
41:00
give you a crown of life, I promise.
41:07
I like verse 16. And by the way, just for fun,
41:13
start in Genesis and look up all the three sixteens.
41:17
And now we're familiar with John 316.
41:19
And it's not every book has a 316.
41:22
That's amazing, but there are some that are really cool.
41:25
So just as something fun to do, there's 66 books, OK, 316 and
41:31
some books you can skip because there's only 1 chapter.
41:34
So 316. Here's a 316.
41:37
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, is God
41:41
breathed and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
41:46
correction, for instruction and righteousness.
41:49
That's a great 3/16. The Holy Spirit moved upon holy
41:56
men and they wrote down as the Spirit gave them that
42:00
impression. And yes, it was written by man,
42:03
because that's the Holy Spirit moved through them, inspired
42:08
them on what to write, even the very words to include.
42:14
But notice that there are 4 tracks upon which the train of
42:17
discipleship runs. Doctrine, reproof, correction,
42:24
instruction, and righteousness, and the scriptures he's talking
42:28
about here. By this time it mostly included
42:32
the Tanakh from the from Genesis all the way to Malachi, the Law
42:38
of the Prophets and the writings.
42:40
That was the that was the body of doctrine that the Jewish
42:44
people grew up in and they're inspired, inspired by the Holy
42:50
Spirit and and those script. The scripture will will make you
42:56
complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work.
43:01
Commentators are helpful. Looking at Greek and Hebrew can
43:05
be helpful, but this here is your main book.
43:10
This is so important. Get familiar with it, read it,
43:15
keep your face in it, and when you come to a section you don't
43:20
understand, put a question mark by it and can keep reading.
43:24
And the next time you come across it, you will find many
43:27
times that you saw the question mark and you go that make it
43:32
makes sense. I mean, what was I how come I
43:35
couldn't figure that out? I mean, that happens because the
43:37
Lord gives you layer by layer by layer instruction.
43:43
So this chapter so important, continue in the things which
43:47
you've learned. And in closing here, those of
43:54
you who are in a place where you feel like you've lost all hope,
44:06
God wants to speak to you. And the first step is just to
44:15
come to the Lord and say I'm a mess and you're promising me all
44:22
this hope, but I don't have it so but I need it.
44:27
And the hope isn't money. The hope isn't relationship.
44:33
The hope isn't healed or health. The hope is that sense of
44:42
absolute calling and purpose on the inside, no matter what
44:47
happens on the outside. Let's bow our heads.
44:55
Father in heaven, you are called the God of hope in Scripture,
45:00
You're the God of all comfort. And we are in the middle of life
45:08
here. And for some people, they are in
45:11
such desperate, desperate places.
45:14
But you are the God of hope. And tonight, Lord, I pray that
45:22
you'd give courage and you'd breathe upon those that are in
45:29
that place. Maybe those of you listening
45:32
online, that's that's where you're at right now.
45:37
For those of you here in the sanctuary and downstairs, I'd
45:42
like you just in in between you and the Lord, just that you
45:46
would stand before him and say, God, I have lost all hope.
45:55
That's an important step. Just just go ahead and stand if
45:58
that's your situation right now, because we as a church want to
46:02
pray for you. OK, Anyone else?
46:13
OK over there? Good.
46:15
All right. OK here.
46:20
OK anyone else? This is a real important time
46:25
because God wants to turn the situation.
46:32
It starts on the inside first. Anyone else?
46:36
Before we start praying? All right, all right, back here,
46:51
Church, I want you to open your eyes and I want you to go over
46:54
to those that are standing and put your hand on their shoulder,
46:57
OK? Don't leave anybody standing by
47:00
themselves. This is what we do as a body
47:04
ministry. We pray for one another because
47:07
we've all been at these kinds of times, at times in situations
47:11
like this. Or you can just stretch out your
47:16
hand toward them. Let's pray right now.
47:20
Father in Heaven, Your word tells us that you are faithful.
47:27
You are the God of all comfort, the God of hope, and your gospel
47:34
is the truth. And right now, Lord, we want to
47:39
pray for these that have stood before you and just humbly
47:43
before the congregation. And we're asking God that you
47:47
would intervene in their life, that you would come and breathe
47:55
on them. Lord, by the Holy Spirit, just
47:59
like in the Acts when an Angel of God appeared to Paul and
48:03
said, do not be afraid. I have given all those with you.
48:10
And so, Lord, right now, I pray that your peace that surpasses
48:16
all understanding would guard their hearts and minds.
48:22
I pray that they would surrender their life to you 100%.
48:27
Let go of everything. And right now, Lord, meet them.
48:37
Meet them in a very tangible way.
48:46
Father, for the rest of us, help us be distributors of your love
48:52
and help us stop trying to manufacture it because we can't.
48:58
Fill us with the Holy Spirit. Fill us with your love and then
49:04
give us opportunities to pour it out in Jesus name, Amen.
49:10
We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study
49:13
delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church for
49:17
prayer. Call us at 87730 Grace that's
49:21
877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
49:27
integrity or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
49:31
online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
49:37
Church app. Be blessed as you worship Jesus
49:39
this week.