Latest / Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services / Living Waters of Grace 01-30-2026
Transcript
- 0:04This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Lewis
- 0:08Harold, assistant pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland
- 0:12County in Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Lewis as he
- 0:16continues teaching through God's Word.
- 0:37Paul is saying basically I have fulfilled my ministry.
- 0:42If today was the last day, if I don't get a chance to see
- 0:45another sunrise, I can say that I fulfilled my ministry.
- 0:50Lord, I've done what you have called me here to do.
- 0:54That was a question that had to come to me.
- 0:56If I was to leave here today, could I say, Lord, I fulfilled
- 1:00your ministry? I fulfilled the ministry that
- 1:03you've given me. Could I say that?
- 1:06Could I say that? Could you say that?
- 1:09You know, for a lot of people, the end of their lives comes
- 1:11before they realize it. Although some are content with
- 1:14the legacy they left behind and prepared for the life to come,
- 1:18there are others who have given little thought to these things
- 1:21until it's too late. Today in his message, Pastor
- 1:25Lewis asks you if you can say that you've fulfilled all that
- 1:29God has called you to do in this life, You've got one chance.
- 1:32To live. Are you making it count?
- 1:35Will you finish your race? Content that you ran with
- 1:38everything you had? Now here's Pastor Lewis in the
- 1:42Book of Second Timothy, Chapter 4, with today's edition of
- 1:46Living Waters of Grace. I want to ask you to turn and
- 1:50your Bibles to the second, second Timothy, the book of
- 1:53Second Timothy, and we're going to finish up chapter 4.
- 1:57We're going to do verses 9 through 22, I think is where we
- 2:01stopped last time. Why don't we pray and go into
- 2:04the word? Father, there is nothing beyond
- 2:08your power. There's nothing beyond your
- 2:10reach. You are the omnipotent God.
- 2:14Lord, There's nothing that you can't do.
- 2:16There's nothing too hard for you and Father, we know, Lord, that
- 2:21it's you who can pour your spirit out upon man.
- 2:24It's you who can bring us to repentance and totally change
- 2:27our lives. You've done it in US, Lord.
- 2:31And Lord, we ask that you do it for those in Greensburg, in the
- 2:34surrounding areas, the places where you have placed us, Lord,
- 2:40to do ministry. Father, do it here.
- 2:43We come to give you praise and worship both through song,
- 2:49through prayer, and also, Lord, through the teaching of Your
- 2:52word. Lord, teach us this morning.
- 2:54It's you who speaks the truth, Lord.
- 2:57It's you who teaches us, Lord. We are assembled at the foot of
- 3:02the mountain this morning, Lord, and we're looking for you to
- 3:04speak to us. I pray, Father, that each and
- 3:07every one of us, Lord, would have something that we will
- 3:10leave here with that would change our lives in some way.
- 3:14Great way, small way, however it is Lord.
- 3:17But in some way, Lord, may we look more like you.
- 3:21May our lives change, Lord, to look more like you.
- 3:26And may your Son Jesus be glorified in our lives and
- 3:32everything that we do and everything that we say, even the
- 3:35very thoughts of our heart. So Father, this morning we ask
- 3:39that you would execute the thoughts of your heart this
- 3:41morning and teach us the things, Lord, that you have to say to
- 3:46us. What was in your heart?
- 3:48Lord, when you have Paul write these verses, What did you want
- 3:53us to hear? What did you want us to learn?
- 3:57How is it supposed to impact us? Lord, do it in our hearts.
- 4:01In Jesus name we pray, Amen. So we're in Second Timothy
- 4:07chapter 4 and starting at verse 9 it reads this way.
- 4:13It says be diligent to come to me quickly, for demons has
- 4:16forsaken me. Having loved this present world.
- 4:21It has departed for Thessalonica crescents, for Galatia Titus,
- 4:25for Dematia Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me.
- 4:29Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for
- 4:34ministry. And Tachakis, I have sent to
- 4:37Ephesus. Bring the cloak that I left with
- 4:41Karpis at Troas when you come. And the books, especially the
- 4:47parchments, we're going to stop there just for a second.
- 4:49You know, one of the things that struck me as I was reading this,
- 4:54and I'm sure like many of you, when you sit down to read the
- 4:58Word of God, the request that we typically make is, Lord, what do
- 5:04you want me to get out of this? What do you want me to profit
- 5:09from this? The scripture?
- 5:12What what's what is the thing that I'm supposed to understand
- 5:16most about this particular scripture?
- 5:18Show me, Lord, shine the light on that thing.
- 5:21So after reading it several times, one of the things that
- 5:24came to my mind was this being that this is Paul's final
- 5:28letter. The thing that stuck out to me
- 5:30most is the fact that this letter really doesn't look much
- 5:34different than any other letter that he's written.
- 5:37Other than the fact that there's a few times where he mentions
- 5:40urgency. What a few times that he
- 5:43requests that Timothy come where he makes reference to the fact
- 5:46that he may not escape this particular trial or this
- 5:51particular tests or this persecution.
- 5:54He may not escape this. But other than that, this letter
- 5:58really looks much like any other letter that he's written.
- 6:01He is still writing with conviction.
- 6:04He is still writing with some rebuke.
- 6:06He is still writing with exhortation.
- 6:09He is still encouraging the readers to be obedient to the
- 6:14things of the Lord. He is still sharing the gospel.
- 6:17It's not much different in this letter.
- 6:20And I was just thinking. It made me think, well, if I
- 6:22knew that this may be one of the last days that I would be on
- 6:26earth today, if I didn't know whether or not I was even going
- 6:29to finish the day, how would I preach this morning?
- 6:35Would it change the way I preach?
- 6:38Would it change the way I teach this morning?
- 6:40Would it change what I do after I leave service?
- 6:44Would it caused me to get on the phone and begin to call people
- 6:48that I know, that I know I've offended and what I asked for
- 6:51their forgiveness with some urgency?
- 6:53Would I forgive those who have offended me?
- 6:56Go out of my way to find them just so I can ask or let them
- 7:02know that I forgive them. How would I change?
- 7:07Would it have impact on the way that I treated you?
- 7:10Would I be more sensitive to the things that you that you need?
- 7:13Would I be more sensitive to your heart?
- 7:17Would I be more kind? How would it change me?
- 7:24And the thing that I asked myself is why?
- 7:27If it does change me in any way, why don't I live that way every
- 7:32day? Why don't I live that way?
- 7:35Do I? Would I read my Bible more?
- 7:38Because if I would, then why don't I do that more now?
- 7:41And would I pray more? Would I spend more time with the
- 7:43Lord in prayer? And if I and if I would, Lord,
- 7:48why don't I do that now? How would it impact me?
- 7:53This is a time when Paul knew that his death was imminent, and
- 7:57yet he continues to be selfless in his approach, in this letter,
- 8:03warning and exhorting, encouraging others.
- 8:08Not once does he say, look, I need you to come and help me get
- 8:10out of here. I need you to talk to somebody
- 8:12that you may know and tell them to let me go.
- 8:16Not once does he do that. Everything is about being
- 8:20obedient to the Word. Everything is about serving the
- 8:24Lord Almighty. Paul said I fought the good
- 8:27fight back in verse 7. He said I fought the good fight.
- 8:31I finished the race. I have kept the faith.
- 8:35Paul is saying basically I have fulfilled my ministry.
- 8:40If today was the last day, if I don't get a chance to see
- 8:43another sunrise, I can say that I fulfilled my ministry.
- 8:48Lord, I've done what you have called me here to do.
- 8:51That was a question that had to come to me.
- 8:53If I was to leave here today, could I say, Lord, I fulfilled
- 8:58your ministry? I fulfilled the ministry that
- 9:01you've given me. Can I say that?
- 9:04Could I say that? Could you say that?
- 9:08So as I continue to go on and we think about the things that Paul
- 9:11says, one of the things that jumps out at me is the fact that
- 9:14I should be living every day like it could be my last.
- 9:18And I know that's not no revelation.
- 9:19I mean, we've hear that all the time, but how often do we really
- 9:23heed it? I've heard it before, but how
- 9:27many times do I walk away and forget that I've heard that and
- 9:30I just go back to doing what I was doing?
- 9:34So that's how this letter is impacting me.
- 9:36So as Paul gets into the letter, he goes he starts here verse 9
- 9:41and he says be diligent and to come to me quickly for Demas has
- 9:44forsaken me having loved this present world and has departed
- 9:49for Thessalonica. Demas Demas was actually a Co
- 9:54laborer with Paul. He's done some ministry journeys
- 9:58with Paul. He ministered with Paul.
- 10:00He served in the missionary with Paul, as a missionary with Paul.
- 10:05But yet he comes to this point and you was seeing when, when
- 10:09Paul needs him the most, he betrays Paul, he abandons Paul,
- 10:14he deserts Paul. So we look at forsaken, you
- 10:18know, he says demons has forsaken me, He has renounced
- 10:24me, He has turned away from me, He has deserted me, having loved
- 10:30this present world. And and then there's some things
- 10:33that will cause us to desert either each other or desert the
- 10:37Lord. But one of the things I just
- 10:39want to be clear about is that as we take this journey, as we
- 10:43continue to live the Christian life, please know there's times
- 10:47that it's going to be lonely for us.
- 10:50It's going to be lonely. There's times when we're going
- 10:52to have to stand and we will look around and we're standing
- 10:55by ourselves and we have to make a decision just because we were
- 11:01abandoned, are we going to abandon the Lord?
- 11:05Would it be easier to do that? Of course, Demas is going back
- 11:09to Thessalonica. Thessalonica is like a New York
- 11:11City, it's like a Las Vegas, it's a party town.
- 11:16It's a worldly town, it's a sinful town.
- 11:19I don't know about you, but from time to time I get these, these
- 11:22these these emails or text messages and right on the title
- 11:28it says vacation in Sin City. Now why would I want to rush
- 11:31there? But I get these sometime, you
- 11:37know, I look at my phone and say vacation in Sin City.
- 11:40They actually advocate and they market that if you come here and
- 11:45vacate and have a vacation, you will have all the ungodliness
- 11:48you want. And yet we have people who flock
- 11:51there. The world will do that.
- 11:54But this is saying that demons did it because demons turned
- 11:58back. Persecution can do that.
- 11:59Sometimes persecution can cause us to turn back and to turn away
- 12:05because of fear. It's a lot more easier to just
- 12:07go and seek the pleasures of the world.
- 12:10I mean, that sounds better than to be locked up in a stinking
- 12:12cave ready for have my head separated from my shoulders.
- 12:16And demons is saying, look, I'm sorry, I can't be with you
- 12:20anymore. I can't be associated with you
- 12:21anymore. But he was not the only one that
- 12:24have forsaken Paul. So demons has forsaken Paul.
- 12:28He has forsaken him. And you know, the one thing that
- 12:32we must understand and feel really good about is that we, we
- 12:36do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our
- 12:41weaknesses, but who was in all points tempted as we are, yet he
- 12:47was without sin. That's what the Bible tells us
- 12:50in Hebrews chapter 4, verse 15. So if we consider that, then we
- 12:54know that when Paul called out to the Lord in his time of being
- 12:59forsaken, not only could the Lord respond to him out of his
- 13:03grace and his sensitivity and his love for Paul, but even out
- 13:07of experience, Jesus knows what it's like to be forsaken.
- 13:11He knows what it's like to stand alone after he has done all for
- 13:16everybody else. And yet when in his time of
- 13:19need, he was forsaken. And I'm sure Paul felt like
- 13:22this. I have preached the gospel to
- 13:24these, to these men and women. I have done things for them.
- 13:28I didn't even take money from them in many cases.
- 13:31I just wanted them. I just wanted them to, to, to
- 13:33understand that Jesus Christ is the Messiah.
- 13:37I just wanted them to understand that and I wanted their souls
- 13:40saved. And in doing that, He put His
- 13:43own life on the line time and time and time again.
- 13:46Yet in his time of need, he was forsaken and so was our Lord and
- 13:52Savior Jesus Christ. He understands that.
- 13:55I say that to say to you that when you are in your time of
- 13:59need, when you're in your time of feeling forsaken by everybody
- 14:03else, being by yourself, after you have poured out to others,
- 14:09know that when you cry to Jesus, He understands.
- 14:12And he doesn't just understand because he's a God who knows
- 14:14all. He understands because he
- 14:16experienced it on the night in which he was portrayed, the
- 14:20night, night in which he was arrested, everyone forsook him.
- 14:25The 12 people that he poured the most of his life into forsook
- 14:29him. So he knows exactly what you are
- 14:34saying to him when you cry out. He hears your heart.
- 14:37He knows, he knows. So he goes on.
- 14:41He says crescence is in, you know, now the next few people, I
- 14:45want to make this point, Demons was the one that he mentions by
- 14:49name that forsake that have forsaken him.
- 14:51But the next few people that he's going to talk about are
- 14:54going to be men that he actually reassigned or he dispatched to
- 14:59different places, OK, for ministry purposes.
- 15:02And so he says crescents. Crescents left for Galatia and
- 15:06Titus for Dalmatia. Now, first of all, Galatia, Paul
- 15:11had established a few churches there in Galatia.
- 15:13In fact, when you go to the book of Galatians, you know, you will
- 15:17see that Paul is writing to the churches, not church, but the
- 15:22church is of Galatia, of Galatians.
- 15:26And there at that particular time, they had a great need for
- 15:28someone to come and do ministry because there were Judaizers
- 15:31coming there and was trying to get them to follow another
- 15:33doctrine. They were trying to tell them
- 15:36that look, you got to do more than just believe in Jesus
- 15:38Christ in order to be saved. I mean, you need to be
- 15:40circumcised. You need to do this, you need to
- 15:41follow all Moses, all these things.
- 15:44In other words, Jesus plus some of the things that we see even
- 15:48now, Jesus plus but no, Paul's saying don't follow no other
- 15:51doctrine. In fact, even if I come and if I
- 15:54say something other than the doctrine that I first taught
- 15:56you, then I should be accursed. And if anyone else comes and
- 16:00teaches you any other doctrine, they should be accursed.
- 16:05But this is where he sent Crescents who is a faithful Co
- 16:10labor of his. Now Galatia, you know it is is
- 16:13now Turkey. And then he said he sent Titus
- 16:16to Dalmatia. Dalmatia is one of these coastal
- 16:20regions off of the off of the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
- 16:25And Dalmatia actually used to be Yugoslavia and now it's one of
- 16:29the it's a part of the Republic of Croatia.
- 16:32And of course, we know Paul spent a lot of time there and he
- 16:35planted many churches. So Paul is dispatching people.
- 16:39Crescents, you go here and continue to do the work that we
- 16:42began. And Titus, you go here and
- 16:44continue to do the work that we began.
- 16:46In fact, he says in verse 11, the only one that is with me is
- 16:49Luke. Now we have to remember that
- 16:52Luke is more of a personal physician and personal chaplain
- 16:57for Paul. And I say personal chaplain
- 16:59because in many of his imprisonments and many times
- 17:02that when, when, when when Paul was in prison, Luke would be the
- 17:06one that would be there with him to minister to him during the
- 17:09time that he's in prison. So, you know, I kind of refer to
- 17:11him almost as Paul's chaplain to some degree, you know, because
- 17:15when he's in ministry, when he needs him the most, Luke is one
- 17:18of the faithful people that he can count on to be with him.
- 17:20But also is the fact that Luke was a physician.
- 17:24In fact, he was called the beloved physician.
- 17:26Luke was a doctor. So Paul had some health
- 17:29challenges. We don't know exactly what they
- 17:31were. The Bible's not very clear on
- 17:32them. People have different theories
- 17:34about what they were. Some people say malaria, Some
- 17:36people say he was, you know, partially blind.
- 17:38Some people say that he had rumor rheumatoid arthritis or
- 17:42whatever it is. But people really don't know
- 17:43exactly what his his health problem were.
- 17:48But we do know is that Luke was the beloved physician that is
- 17:52always there to assist him and help him.
- 17:56But Luke also served as a scribe for Paul.
- 17:58So when Paul would pour out his heart, it was Luke that was
- 18:01writing. Luke is also one of the only
- 18:03gentile writers that we have in the New Testament.
- 18:06Luke is actually the the author of both Acts and the book of
- 18:10Luke. Luke is the author of both of
- 18:13those books. So he said I only have Luke with
- 18:17me. And then he says get Mark and
- 18:19bring him with me for he is useful for me, for to me for
- 18:25ministry, which is really amazing because if you remember
- 18:28back in the 12th or 13th chapter, the book of Acts, it
- 18:32was there when they took Mark with them.
- 18:34Paul and Barnabas took Mark with them on the 1st missionary
- 18:39journey and the first resistance that they ran into, Mark said, I
- 18:44had enough of this. I can't deal with this.
- 18:47I don't have the stomach for this.
- 18:48And Mark quit and went back to Jerusalem.
- 18:52You know, we can look at Mark and say, hey, you know, why'd
- 18:56you abandon him, man? But the truth of the matter is,
- 18:59is that Mark just wasn't there yet.
- 19:02He just wasn't there yet. Like we said last week, we all
- 19:05mature at different levels in the faith.
- 19:08We all mature at different levels.
- 19:09Mark had not got to that point and he went back.
- 19:14But this story is a story of reconciliation because we know
- 19:18that in Colossians chapter 4 around verse 10, Paul names Mark
- 19:24as one of the Co laborers that was with him or that worked with
- 19:28him in ministry. And also in Philemon, we know
- 19:32that Mark is named actually named with demons as one of the
- 19:37faithful workers that was working with Paul.
- 19:41So see, just because Paul or or or Mark had a tough start, he
- 19:46may have been kind of weak in the beginning.
- 19:47That doesn't mean that he stayed there.
- 19:49He was strengthened, the Lord strengthened him.
- 19:52The Lord caused him to be bolder, and He can do the same
- 19:55thing with us. You know, just because we have
- 19:58some problems at the beginning of our ministries or we have
- 20:01some problems in beginning of walking with the Lord, doesn't
- 20:04mean we're going to stay there. The Lord has the power to
- 20:07strengthen you. He has the power to mature you
- 20:11in the faith. As long as you continue to
- 20:14follow Him, continue to seek Him, He's able to cause you to
- 20:20mature in the faith. I am still looking to mature in
- 20:23the faith. When do we get there?
- 20:25We don't get to the point of being totally perfected until
- 20:28Jesus Christ comes back. That's when we finally get
- 20:31there. But until that time, we are
- 20:33being sanctified. We are being matured, we're
- 20:36being developed in the faith. So this is a story of
- 20:40reconciliation. Now we know, first of all,
- 20:43Timothy had to be Bolden. He had to get more boldness in
- 20:46his heart for the gospel and for the work.
- 20:50But Paul also had to soften his heart and the Lord did a work on
- 20:54both. And that's the way it should
- 20:56happen in ministry. For those of us, we are brothers
- 21:00and sisters in Christ. We should not have life long
- 21:05contentions with each other. That just shouldn't happen.
- 21:08I'm sorry, but it shouldn't happen.
- 21:11Even my mother would get to a point where me and my sisters
- 21:14were arguing and fighting with each other.
- 21:16She would get to a point and say, OK, that's it.
- 21:18You guys are going to make up and that's just all there's to
- 21:20it. You going to get this stuff
- 21:21behind you, You going to forget about all this and we going to
- 21:24be a family. Even she would get to that
- 21:26point. You know what, in Christ there's
- 21:30so many places where we are told that we are to reconcile with
- 21:34our brother quickly and Mark and in Matthew 5, he says reconcile
- 21:38with your brother quickly. If there's an offense, we know
- 21:42that he gives us a process for reconciliation.
- 21:44Matthew 18, he gives us a process for reconciliation, but
- 21:49the beginning of that process is to go to that brother, not just
- 21:53avoid them, don't talk about them, don't backbite them, go to
- 21:58them. Let's resolve this.
- 22:01That is not of the Lord. When two people or how,
- 22:05regardless of how many people have contentions for extended
- 22:09periods of time and they're never resolved, that is not of
- 22:12the Lord. That is not the Spirit of
- 22:14Christ. He was denied by Peter three
- 22:19times, yet after his resurrection he said go get
- 22:25Peter and bring him with you to Galilee.
- 22:30Don't leave him out. I'm not casting him out.
- 22:32I'm not forgetting about him. Go get him and bring him with
- 22:35you. I'm reconciling with Him.
- 22:38I want Him to know I've forgiven him and that's what we should be
- 22:42doing with each other. Either I need to call you or you
- 22:44need to call me, but we need to reconcile.
- 22:47We need not to be allowing this thing just to last forever and
- 22:51ever and ever. You talking to your people about
- 22:54what happened and somebody else talking to their people about
- 22:57what happened. Let's sit down and talk with
- 22:59each other and let's love on each other the way Christ
- 23:02intended so that we can do the work of the ministry.
- 23:07And that's exactly what happened.
- 23:09Paul is basically saying, he said I need, I have need of him.
- 23:12I have use for him for ministry. And that's exactly, and this is
- 23:16what gives the devil a black eye, because the devil knows
- 23:19that we have use for each other that we add to each other's
- 23:22ministry. Just the evil one knows that,
- 23:24our enemy knows that. And So what he's going to try to
- 23:27do is to keep us separated so that your ministry can't bless
- 23:31me and my ministry can't bless you, and we can't serve together
- 23:34to be a blessing to whomever the Lord has sent us here to be a
- 23:37blessing too. Paul says I have need bring him
- 23:41to me. I have need of him for ministry.
- 23:44But it took him a while to realize that.
- 23:47Let us not take us that long to realize that we need each other.
- 23:52So let's reconcile. Let's reconcile quickly.
- 23:57This has been another encouraging edition of Living
- 24:00Waters of Grace. Pastor Lewis Harrell has shared
- 24:04some good reminders for us to learn and walk in today as he's
- 24:08teaching through the books of First and Second Timothy.
- 24:11There are useful practices and advice that the Apostle Paul
- 24:16offers to Timothy in these books.
- 24:18From a fellow pastor, Paul imparts some wisdom to Timothy
- 24:22about solid leadership and what some of the criteria should be
- 24:27for leadership. There are specific passages
- 24:30directed towards men and women, respectively.
- 24:33And All in all, there's much to gain in coming to an awareness
- 24:36of God's heart for each person and God's purposes for each one.
- 24:42We're happy that you've taken the time today to listen and
- 24:45invite you to come here the next edition.
- 24:48In the meantime, when you have some time to spare today, go
- 24:51check out our website, calvarychapelonline.com.
- 24:56There you'll find additional messages as well as a variety of
- 24:59resources and information about how to meet with us in person.
- 25:04We're also on Facebook, so you can be a part of what we share
- 25:07there as well. You can stay plugged in with
- 25:10this ministry via YouTube to watch previous teachings or tune
- 25:15into our live stream. Living Waters of Grace is a
- 25:18ministry of Calvary Chapel Westmoreland.
- 25:22Before we go today, we ask that you share this program with
- 25:26others and invite them to listen on Grace FM at 91.7.
- 25:31That's all we have for today, but we're so glad that you've
- 25:34been with us. There's more to dig into here in
- 25:37First and Second Timothy, so let's gear up for some more
- 25:42great teachings from Pastor Lewis next time here on Living
- 25:46Waters of Grace.