Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / A Treasure Worth Guarding │ Msg 910 (1)

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A Treasure Worth Guarding │ Msg 910 (1) · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: My calling as a pastor includes fighting. Oh, I don't
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Speaker 1: mean to strap on the gloves and go toe to
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Speaker 1: toe with my elders and congregational members. Not that. What
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Speaker 1: I mean is as a pastor, I'm called to fight
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Speaker 1: for the faith, to defend the faith. In fact, all
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Speaker 1: Christians in ministry are called to do that. I believe
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Speaker 1: that as time passes, we will see our faith in
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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ more and more attacked. We will find that
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Speaker 1: the things of God are increasingly viewed with suspicion and
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Speaker 1: addressed with cynicism and eventually banned completely. As Christians, it
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Speaker 1: is never appropriate for us to earn a reputation as
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Speaker 1: being fighters in the sense of being argumentative or being
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Speaker 1: a bully That's the last thing the body of Christ needs,
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Speaker 1: another angry, bullheaded, stubborn Christian pushing his or her agenda.
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Speaker 1: This is why Paul included in both of his letters
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Speaker 1: to Timothy some sober commands. First, we'll find commands in
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Speaker 1: 1 Timothy 6, verses 20 and 21, and then we'll
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Speaker 1: look at 2 Timothy 1, verses 12 through 14. Let's
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Speaker 1: start in the first Timothy letter, chapter 6, verse 20.
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Speaker 1: O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding
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Speaker 1: worldly and empty chatter, and the opposing arguments of what
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Speaker 1: is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed, and thus
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Speaker 1: gone astray from the faith. And then turning to 2 Timothy,
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Speaker 1: chapter 1, beginning at verse 12. For this reason I
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Speaker 1: also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed. For
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Speaker 1: I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced
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Speaker 1: that he is able to guard what I have entrusted
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Speaker 1: to him until that day. Retain the standard of sound
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Speaker 1: words which you have heard from me, in the faith
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Speaker 1: and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard through the
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Speaker 1: Holy Spirit who dwells in us the treasures which has
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Speaker 1: been entrusted to you. I spent most of last week
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Speaker 1: with victims of starvation. You couldn't tell by looking. If
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Speaker 1: you went by that, you would think that they are
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Speaker 1: very well nourished. As I scanned the parking lot of
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Speaker 1: that full place and places alongside the particular church where
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Speaker 1: I ministered in another state, I saw the marks of affluence.
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Speaker 1: Everyone wore mighty nice clothes. They were clean. They were
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Speaker 1: well fed. They could certainly pass a fairly difficult academic
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Speaker 1: exam because they were highly educated. They weren't victims of
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Speaker 1: educational starvation. I would say the average degree was a master's,
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Speaker 1: and I have seldom been in a group where there
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Speaker 1: would be more earned doctorates than in that particular body
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Speaker 1: of people. But when I stood up to speak to
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Speaker 1: them and continued to speak for the next three days,
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Speaker 1: the thought kept coming to my mind that there is
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Speaker 1: a famine in the land. In fact, I told them
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Speaker 1: the reason I was there was because of that famine.
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Speaker 1: And I quoted from the prophet Amos, chapter 8, as
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Speaker 1: he speaks of a famine in the land, not a
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Speaker 1: famine of bread or of thirst for water, but of
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Speaker 1: hearing the word of the Lord. We are not living
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Speaker 1: in a day of the famine of churches. We have
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Speaker 1: them by the dozens, most towns, have 20 or more.
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Speaker 1: Some places have literally hundreds of churches within the boundaries
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Speaker 1: of the city limits. It is not a famine of
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Speaker 1: occupation or a famine of people or a famine of
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Speaker 1: places to live. It is a famine of hearing the
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Speaker 1: word of the Lord. It's easy for us to forget that.
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Speaker 1: The question comes to my mind as to why that's true.
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Speaker 1: Why is there such a famine? Since we have churches
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Speaker 1: and chapels and temples and tabernacles by the thousands in
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Speaker 1: our nation, since we have Bibles in every possible size
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Speaker 1: and type style, since we have versions of the scriptures
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Speaker 1: too numerous to line our shelves, why is there such
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Speaker 1: a famine? The answer, to be very simple about it,
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Speaker 1: is that someone has stopped guarding the deposit. That's the reason.
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Speaker 1: There's been a breakdown in the guard. the wolves have
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Speaker 1: come into the pantry. And now houses of God that
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Speaker 1: once were places of feeding and nourishment have become places
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Speaker 1: where dinner bells ring and where tables are set, some
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Speaker 1: of the tables places of beauty, and where great time
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Speaker 1: and attention or given to the decorating of the place
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Speaker 1: where eating and feasting once occurred, but everyone leaves hungry.
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Speaker 1: Isn't that a tragic scene? It's like inviting your family
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Speaker 1: that hasn't eaten for a couple of days to the
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Speaker 1: dinner table And you have spread the place with the
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Speaker 1: beautiful linens and the finest in China and silverware. And
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Speaker 1: you have nothing to serve them, nothing to satisfy the hunger.
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Speaker 1: So they leave as they came, hungry. Much like people
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Speaker 1: in 1929, who experienced what came to be known as
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Speaker 1: the Depression. The same kind of scene accompanies a famine. Now,
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Speaker 1: in the letters Paul wrote to Timothy, both the first
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Speaker 1: and the second letter, there is an undertone all the
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Speaker 1: way through this, at least the first letter, The undertone
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Speaker 1: is one of urgency. There's an urgency about his message.
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Speaker 1: He is concerned that the man who takes the torch
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Speaker 1: from him to run following his death would not drop
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Speaker 1: the torch, would not spend his time in a futile manner,
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Speaker 1: but would in fact carry on and do the job. Why?
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Speaker 1: Because wolves are always at the door. And because they
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Speaker 1: are vicious because they too want food of a different kind.
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Speaker 1: As every generation comes and goes, this battle for truth
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Speaker 1: goes on. And it is a relentless one. by the
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Speaker 1: time we arrive at the 21st century. If you question that,
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Speaker 1: perhaps these few comments will help. Back when I ministered
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Speaker 1: in New England, I took the time to visit Harvard
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Speaker 1: University campus on a number of occasions. One snowy afternoon,
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Speaker 1: I stood knee-deep in the snow and wiped from the
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Speaker 1: courtyard area, the cornerstone. Have you ever read the cornerstone
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Speaker 1: of Harvard? I could look across through the wrought iron
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Speaker 1: that was now rusted with time and see the statue
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Speaker 1: of John Harvard that's now kind of a pale green
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Speaker 1: through just the passing of time as he's sitting looking
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Speaker 1: out over that yard. And having brushed the snow and
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Speaker 1: the ice from the cornerstone along the main wall, I
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Speaker 1: read these words. After God had carried us safe to
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Speaker 1: New England and we had built our houses, provided necessaries
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Speaker 1: for our livelihood, reared convenient places for God's worship, and
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Speaker 1: settled the civil government. One of the next things we
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Speaker 1: longed for and looked after was to advance learning and
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Speaker 1: perpetuate to posterity, dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to
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Speaker 1: the churches. when our present ministers shall lie in the dust.
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Speaker 1: A magazine that knew its heyday in yesteryear published an
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Speaker 1: article entitled, The Startling Beliefs of Our Future Ministers. And
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Speaker 1: it included the results of a survey taken among several
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Speaker 1: major denominational seminaries. These questions were asked and answered as follow.
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Speaker 1: Do you believe in a physical resurrection? 54% said no.
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Speaker 1: Do you believe in the virgin birth of Christ? 56%
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Speaker 1: answered no. Do you believe in a literal heaven and hell? No,
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Speaker 1: said 71%. Do you believe in the deity of Christ? 89%.
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Speaker 1: Said no. Do you believe that man is separated from
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Speaker 1: God by birth? The doctrine of depravity. 98% responded either
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Speaker 1: no or they weren't concerned about this. Do you believe
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Speaker 1: in the second coming of Jesus Christ? 99% said no.
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Speaker 1: There's a famine in the land. There's a famine in
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Speaker 1: the land. Places that look like food is being served
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Speaker 1: offer very little by way of substance to hungry worshipers.
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Speaker 1: So it shouldn't surprise us that when we look at
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Speaker 1: 1 Timothy, for example, chapter 1, early on, Paul tells
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Speaker 1: this pastor friend of his to do something about maintaining
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Speaker 1: his commitment to truth. Verse 3, I urged you upon
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Speaker 1: my departure from Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus. Don't leave, Timothy.
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Speaker 1: Stay there. Here's the reason. In order that you may
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Speaker 1: instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to
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Speaker 1: pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise
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Speaker 1: to mere speculation rather than furthering God's provision, which is
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Speaker 1: by faith. Timothy, you have a reason to stay. Don't
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Speaker 1: church hop. Don't move on because there's pressure. Don't leave
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Speaker 1: because the kitchen is hotter than when you arrived. Don't
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Speaker 1: pull out because folk don't want to hear it or
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Speaker 1: because you're getting pressure for telling it. Stay there. Hang tough.
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Speaker 1: Because far too many are paying attention to myths and
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Speaker 1: genealogies which lead to speculation and word battles and silly
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Speaker 1: talk about stuff that doesn't nourish and nurture. Verse 18,
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Speaker 1: same chapter. I command this. This command I entrust to you, Timothy,
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Speaker 1: my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you,
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Speaker 1: that by them you may fight the good fight. Strong words. Familiar. Unfortunately,
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Speaker 1: maybe too familiar to us who are spoiled with good food.
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Speaker 1: And we need to come back and blow the dust
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Speaker 1: off these old commands and see that there's a battle
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Speaker 1: going on, that the fight is raging. We're to keep
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Speaker 1: the faith, verse 19, and a good conscience, which some
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Speaker 1: have rejected. And he goes on to describe them. He
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Speaker 1: even calls names. Hymenaeus and Alexander have been in this
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Speaker 1: group of people. Chapter 3, verse 14. I'm writing these
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Speaker 1: things to you, Timothy, hoping to come to you before long.
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Speaker 1: But in case I'm delayed, in case we don't see
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Speaker 1: one another, Timothy, I write so that you implied you
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Speaker 1: alone may know how one ought to conduct himself in
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Speaker 1: the household of God, which is the church of the
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Speaker 1: living God, the pillar and support of the truth. Timothy,
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Speaker 1: I leave this legacy, and if you and I never
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Speaker 1: see each other again, press on, stand firm, teach well,
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Speaker 1: have substance, meet in what you say. You have a responsibility.
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Speaker 1: Chapter 4, verse 1. The Spirit explicitly says in later times,
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Speaker 1: some will fall away from the faith. They'll pay attention
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Speaker 1: to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. There will be hypocrisy.
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Speaker 1: There will be seared consciences, verse 2, as with a
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Speaker 1: branding iron. They will advocate this and forbid that, and
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Speaker 1: it will all be extraneous, extreme stuff. Now Timothy, be balanced,
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Speaker 1: verse six. In pointing out these things to the brethren,
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Speaker 1: you'll be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished,
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Speaker 1: there's the word, nourished on the words of the faith
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Speaker 1: and of the sound doctrine which you have been following.
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Speaker 1: Verse 10, it is for this we labor and strive
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Speaker 1: because we have fixed our hope on the living God
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Speaker 1: who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.
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Speaker 1: Verse 15, same tone. Take pains with these things. Be
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Speaker 1: absorbed in them so that your progress may be evident
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Speaker 1: to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching.
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Speaker 1: Look honestly into the mirror of your life and tell
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Speaker 1: yourself what's there. And if you get blind about it,
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Speaker 1: get people around you who will tell you the truth,
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Speaker 1: who will appraise your ministry, who will say, you're getting off,
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Speaker 1: you're getting away from it, you're losing it, you're out
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Speaker 1: of touch, you're over the hill, you're not a good spokesman,
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Speaker 1: you're not saying it right. There isn't substance anymore. Too
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Speaker 1: many stories, not enough truth. Too many opinions, not enough doctrine.
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Speaker 1: Tell it straight, Timothy. Tell it straight. Feed well. Time's short.
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Speaker 1: Pay attention to yourself and to your teaching. Persevere. By
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Speaker 1: doing it, you will ensure deliverance for yourself and those
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Speaker 1: who hear you. Verse 11, chapter 6 says, Flee all
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Speaker 1: of those things that are going to get you sidetracked.
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Speaker 1: Love for money and needless arguments and those things that
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Speaker 1: don't amount to a hill of beans, verses 3 through
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Speaker 1: 10 describe them. Flee those things, Timothy, you man of God.
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Speaker 1: Remember that title, man of God. Pursue after these things.
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Speaker 1: Here's substance. Pursue righteousness and godliness and faith and love
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Speaker 1: and perseverance and gentleness. There it is again, fight the
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Speaker 1: good fight. The undertone of the whole letter is an
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Speaker 1: urgent one. You've seen it just briefly. Now, the reason
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Speaker 1: is not complicated. God's word has been replaced with artificial food.
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Speaker 1: That's the reason that there's such a lack of nourishment.
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Speaker 1: So it shouldn't surprise us that there's a famine in
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Speaker 1: the land. You can call it what you wish, but
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Speaker 1: if it isn't meat, it isn't meat. If it isn't
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Speaker 1: from the scriptures, it isn't from the scriptures. I mean,
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Speaker 1: it's obvious. It's as obvious as the nose on your face.
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Speaker 1: If it's not coming from God, it's coming from men
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Speaker 1: and women. And that's not going to hold you over.
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Speaker 1: That's not going to satisfy. That won't get men and
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Speaker 1: women through the week. That won't take care of the
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Speaker 1: tempting days of the young or the depressing days of
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Speaker 1: the old. It won't get you through. It won't feed
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Speaker 1: the soul. Timothy, get with it. That seems to be
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Speaker 1: the tone of it. Don't satisfy yourself with Meaningless chatter
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Speaker 1: about religious subjects. Get into the book. Now, let's do
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Speaker 1: a calm appraisal. I don't want to just do verbal cartwheels.
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Speaker 1: up here and pour kerosene all over myself and set
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Speaker 1: myself on fire and get all hot and bothered about
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Speaker 1: something only to have you yawn and leave and say,
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Speaker 1: what's the big deal? I mean, the guy's getting intense
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Speaker 1: about this. My teenagers say to me sometimes, Dad, relax, relax.
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Speaker 1: I guess if I've been with these people for a week,
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Speaker 1: it's hard to relax about it. It's hard to relax
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Speaker 1: when you know so many are starved and that you
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Speaker 1: can talk about the most basic things in the scriptures
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Speaker 1: and they just gobble it up. I mean, they take
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Speaker 1: notes on when you're not even talking. They're writing down
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Speaker 1: what you haven't even said. They're so hungry. I guess
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Speaker 1: I find myself Hard to relax. So let me try
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Speaker 1: to do a calm appraisal of some of these intense imperatives. Okay?
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Speaker 1: Let me just try to keep myself under control. Let's
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Speaker 1: go about this intelligently. Let's examine the treasure. See verse
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Speaker 1: 19 of chapter 6? As he talks about storing up
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Speaker 1: for ourselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future.
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Speaker 1: So that we may take hold of that which is
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Speaker 1: life indeed. Oh, Timothy. I think Paul's on his knees now. Oh, friend. Oh, Timothy.
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Speaker 1: Guard what has been entrusted to you. Guard it. There
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Speaker 1: are some things worth guarding. There's a trust worth guarding.
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Speaker 1: Avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of
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Speaker 1: what is falsely called knowledge, in quotes, which some have
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Speaker 1: professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be
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Speaker 1: with you. Let me say a couple of things about
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Speaker 1: this treasure. First, the treasure... to be guarded is essential.
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Speaker 1: It's not incidental. I'm going to say a lot about
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Speaker 1: that in this talk because I think we're arguing over
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Speaker 1: the wrong things. We get hot and bothered about incidentals.
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Speaker 1: 619 talks about that which is life indeed. Earlier part
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Speaker 1: of the verse talked about that which is foundational. The
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Speaker 1: treasure is that which is essential. to life. It isn't incidental.
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Speaker 1: Second thing I would say is that it is the
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Speaker 1: substance of life itself. It's not the container. If you prefer,
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Speaker 1: it's the sustainer, not the container. We get those two confused,
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Speaker 1: those of us in ministry. We get caught up in
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Speaker 1: the container and we forget the treasure. See the way
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Speaker 1: verses 20 and 21 read, Timothy, you've been entrusted with
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Speaker 1: a treasure, that which has substance, that which will result
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Speaker 1: in changed lives, a new birth, forgiveness, hope, purpose, definition, meaning, direction,
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Speaker 1: eternal rewards. Don't get sidetracked. Stay away from empty arguments
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Speaker 1: and worldly chatter. Stay away from surface arguments. The tense
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Speaker 1: is present. Keep on staying away. Keep on avoiding. Why?
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Speaker 1: Because it is utterly empty. It will result in nothing
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Speaker 1: more than, at best, winning an argument. Now look over
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Speaker 1: at 2 Timothy 1, verse 12. For this reason, I
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Speaker 1: suffer these things. These imperatives are... are the reasons Paul suffered.
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Speaker 1: He suffered for them. But I am not ashamed, but
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Speaker 1: for I know whom I have believed, and I am
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Speaker 1: convinced that he is able to guard what I have
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Speaker 1: entrusted to him until that day. We love to sing
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Speaker 1: about that. I know whom I have believed, and he
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Speaker 1: is able to keep that which I have committed to
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Speaker 1: him against that day. When I stand before my Savior
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Speaker 1: in eternity, He will not renege. He won't have lost
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Speaker 1: me in the files. I can't find that name. That
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Speaker 1: won't happen. I can count on him to maintain that trust.
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Speaker 1: And he'll know me, he'll call my name, and he'll say,
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Speaker 1: you're mine. Trust me. You're in. Through Jesus Christ, we
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Speaker 1: have this covenant You've come to know my son. You
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Speaker 1: are in the family. Enter. I can trust him. Now,
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Speaker 1: there's another trust. It works the other way. If we
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Speaker 1: move away from eternal life and back into temporal life,
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Speaker 1: look at the next verse. Timothy, you have a trust.
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Speaker 1: Retain the standard of sound words which you've heard from
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Speaker 1: me in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard,
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Speaker 1: there it is again, through the Holy Spirit, guard the
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Speaker 1: treasure which has been entrusted to you. This is a
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Speaker 1: trust worth guarding. Schools speak of an esprit de corps.
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Speaker 1: Most coaches that I know who run football teams appeal
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Speaker 1: to that esprit de corps. They have a group of
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Speaker 1: fellows sitting there in pads and they've got perspiration running
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Speaker 1: down their faces and maybe it's halftime and they're 14
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Speaker 1: points behind and they're playing this wimpy school that they
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Speaker 1: ought to have blown away but they haven't. And so
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Speaker 1: the coach stands up and he's tried all the plays
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Speaker 1: on the drawing board and then he looks at his
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Speaker 1: fellows and he says, Now, listen, guys, there's a trust
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Speaker 1: we've got to uphold. The name of this school is
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Speaker 1: at stake. Now, he does not talk about the curriculum.
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Speaker 1: He doesn't talk about the geography of the school. He
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Speaker 1: doesn't talk about the budget, the salary of the faculty.
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Speaker 1: He doesn't talk about the color scheme of the president's office.
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Speaker 1: He doesn't talk about anything. You'd say, well, of course not.
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Speaker 1: That's extraneous. That's the point. He appeals to that curriculum.
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Speaker 1: which is worth guarding, fighting for. And he says, fight
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Speaker 1: for that. That's what got England through. Churchill was a
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Speaker 1: master at intrinsic motivation for the sake of the country,
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Speaker 1: for the love of the nation. We'll fight in the streets.
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Speaker 1: We'll fight in the air. We'll fight on the sea.
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Speaker 1: We will not surrender. Why? For love of England. It
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Speaker 1: was a standard. It was worth dying for. That's the
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Speaker 1: appeal in this passage. Guard through the Holy Spirit who
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Speaker 1: dwells in us the treasure that's entrusted to you. Why
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Speaker 1: are people starving? Why is there a famine in that
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Speaker 1: state and our state and all states? Run over with churches. Why?
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Speaker 1: And we're not the only place that has the truth.
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Speaker 1: I'm not implying that. I'm not saying that. But why
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Speaker 1: is it that there's such a famine? Because the trust
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Speaker 1: has not been guarded. There are banking terms here. When
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Speaker 1: I go to my banker and place a deposit in
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Speaker 1: his hand, I have never, ever had the banker say
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Speaker 1: to me, now, shall we put your money in a
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Speaker 1: stainless steel vault that has a a marvelous German-made timing device,
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Speaker 1: or would you prefer using this brass and bronze unit
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Speaker 1: over here that has a Swiss volt timer? I would say, man,
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Speaker 1: I don't care. I don't care where you put it.
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Speaker 1: All I want is when I come to get it,
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Speaker 1: that it's there. That's all I want. I want you
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Speaker 1: to take care of it. I want you to sustain
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Speaker 1: its safety. I want you to maintain it. And I
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Speaker 1: want it to draw interest. I want you to do
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Speaker 1: the job of banking. Don't ask me about the decoration
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Speaker 1: of the joint. I don't care about how it looks,
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Speaker 1: where the money is. What I care about is that
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Speaker 1: the money is kept safe. That's your job, man. Now,
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Speaker 1: I have said all of that with a good deal
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Speaker 1: of passion because I I want to address this defensive
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Speaker 1: position that we take when it comes to guarding. For
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Speaker 1: some people, everything is worth fighting over. Now, I want
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Speaker 1: to talk about that. They yield on nothing from start
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Speaker 1: to finish. There is a militant mentality. I mean, everything
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Speaker 1: is an issue. Everything is the trust worth guarding. Now
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Speaker 1: I want to repeat what I gave you a moment ago,
29:54
Speaker 1: those two statements, and I want to analyze it. The
29:57
Speaker 1: treasure itself is essential. It's not incidental. And it is
30:02
Speaker 1: the substance of life itself. It is not the container.
30:07
Speaker 1: To use a very prevalent colloquialism of our day, it
30:11
Speaker 1: is not the method, it's the message. We don't fuss
30:15
Speaker 1: around with, we don't play around with the message. It
30:19
Speaker 1: is the savior. It is his death, burial, and resurrection.
30:22
Speaker 1: It is the cross. It is faith in him apart
30:26
Speaker 1: from works. It is eternal life based on his sacrificial death.
30:31
Speaker 1: It is the work of the Holy Spirit to do
30:34
Speaker 1: this and that. It is an on and on with
30:38
Speaker 1: eight or ten major points of doctrine. That's the trust.
30:44
Speaker 1: But that's it. That's what's worth guarding. That's what's worth
30:49
Speaker 1: standing for. It is the inerrancy of Scripture. It is
30:54
Speaker 1: the deity of the Savior. It is the Trinity, the Godhead.
30:58
Speaker 1: We don't bend on that. We fight for that. We
31:01
Speaker 1: die for that, if necessary. We stand against whoever in
31:06
Speaker 1: defense of that. But it stops there. What is not
31:13
Speaker 1: worth the argument? I wrote that on my notes here.
31:16
Speaker 1: What's not worth getting passionate about? Well, some of you
31:21
Speaker 1: won't like to hear this. But I really want you
31:24
Speaker 1: to go back to the scriptures and answer, where do
31:27
Speaker 1: I find the basis of what I'm fighting for in scripture?
31:31
Speaker 1: Here are some. Some I'm suggesting. That which is strictly
31:36
Speaker 1: a matter of culture. It's not based on the Bible.
31:42
Speaker 1: Another would be issues that have to do with personal taste.
31:46
Speaker 1: Not stated in principle or precept in scripture. Just a
31:50
Speaker 1: personal taste. Traditional practices, not scriptural truths, would be another.
31:59
Speaker 1: Flexible issues that can be done in a variety of ways,
32:03
Speaker 1: tastefully and properly, but a variety of ways. They are
32:10
Speaker 1: not inflexible matters. They're subject to change. Let me illustrate
32:14
Speaker 1: it this way. If we were suddenly snatched up and
32:17
Speaker 1: taken in the time tunnel back to the first century,
32:22
Speaker 1: None of the treasure would change. But all of these
32:27
Speaker 1: other things would be different. Our geography would be different.
32:31
Speaker 1: Our style of worship would be different. Our instruments we
32:35
Speaker 1: use in music would be different. Our hymnal wouldn't be
32:39
Speaker 1: in existence. Our style of approach with people would be different.
32:44
Speaker 1: Our dress would be different. Our look would be different.
32:47
Speaker 1: And that shouldn't bother anybody. But you know some people,
32:51
Speaker 1: if that happened to them, suddenly would have to stop ministry.
32:55
Speaker 1: Because those are all things that we're fighting for. Appearance
33:04
Speaker 1: and length of hair and dress, style of dress. We
33:15
Speaker 1: don't suffer for those things, and if we do, we're wrong.
33:19
Speaker 1: We're creating our own suffering. That isn't substance. That's silverware.
33:25
Speaker 1: That's saucers and plates and crystal. That's stuff you serve
33:34
Speaker 1: it in. That's just a matter of taste. That just
33:38
Speaker 1: fits with whatever is the scene of the day and
33:41
Speaker 1: whoever's in leadership. Famine comes because there's not enough food,
33:46
Speaker 1: not because there are... There's a different decor. Let me
33:56
Speaker 1: give you some examples. Evangelism. The heart of the gospel
34:03
Speaker 1: is Christ's death and resurrection. That's the good news. That's inflexible.
34:08
Speaker 1: That message is to be presented to the lost in
34:11
Speaker 1: every possible and appropriate manner. That's a given. You don't
34:15
Speaker 1: do that, you're a heretic. That's worth fighting for. But
34:20
Speaker 1: the way you do it isn't. The way we go
34:25
Speaker 1: about presenting the gospel is as flexible as the way
34:29
Speaker 1: the men and women in Scripture went about doing that.
34:34
Speaker 1: Try not to get in such a binding position that
34:36
Speaker 1: it always has to be done the same way. I've
34:40
Speaker 1: had people ask me when we stop presenting the gospel
34:46
Speaker 1: because we happen not to use a particular kind of
34:49
Speaker 1: invitation at the close of a service on a normal basis.
34:53
Speaker 1: And people are bent out of shape some because we
34:56
Speaker 1: don't use a method that's made popular in our Western
34:59
Speaker 1: hemisphere and especially in the last couple of centuries that
35:03
Speaker 1: is considered evangelistic. If you don't do that, you don't
35:06
Speaker 1: believe in evangelism. That's hogwash. We believe in evangelism with
35:10
Speaker 1: all our hearts. We just happen not to use a
35:11
Speaker 1: method that's popular in many churches. You see what I'm saying?
35:18
Speaker 1: It's not worth fighting for, the method that's used. What
35:21
Speaker 1: is worth fighting for is that the Savior is presented,
35:24
Speaker 1: the gospel is offered, the good news is announced, and
35:27
Speaker 1: people are given an opportunity to believe it. That's what's important.
35:32
Speaker 1: That's essential. That's worth fighting for. But the worship service
35:41
Speaker 1: is a huddle, and we run the plays during the week.
35:47
Speaker 1: I've never seen a game one in the huddle, but
35:50
Speaker 1: I've never seen a game one without a huddle. You
35:54
Speaker 1: have to have both, but you really have to focus
35:57
Speaker 1: on getting the job done during the week. That's evangelism. Now,
36:03
Speaker 1: there is a style of worship service. The substance of
36:07
Speaker 1: worship is never up for discussion. It is to glorify God.
36:11
Speaker 1: If what goes on in this place called worship doesn't
36:14
Speaker 1: glorify God, You have every right to fight against it.
36:19
Speaker 1: And I'll tell you, we stand accountable. But if the
36:27
Speaker 1: style of what is done happens not to fit your
36:30
Speaker 1: fancy on that given day, wait till next Sunday. It'll change.
36:37
Speaker 1: It'll be different next time. The variety is one of
36:41
Speaker 1: the beautiful things about it, and we are convinced, those
36:44
Speaker 1: of us in leadership here, that if you know what's
36:46
Speaker 1: coming next, then we've kind of fallen down on the job.
36:49
Speaker 1: It's to stay full of variety. It's to be innovative.
36:53
Speaker 1: It's to have flex. We can move the doxology to
36:58
Speaker 1: the end, or we can have it at the beginning,
37:01
Speaker 1: or we can leave it out altogether. It doesn't have
37:06
Speaker 1: to be. Christ didn't always have the doxology when his
37:11
Speaker 1: men and he gathered. I had a girl say to
37:14
Speaker 1: me when we moved it from the beginning to the
37:16
Speaker 1: end of a meeting, she said, I didn't know it
37:18
Speaker 1: would work there. It works there. God's word encourages spontaneity.
37:26
Speaker 1: He encourages our being flexible with the container, not with
37:32
Speaker 1: the substance. We can't play around with the substance. That's
37:36
Speaker 1: not ours to do. But what a joy it is
37:38
Speaker 1: to redecorate the house and to change the color scheme
37:43
Speaker 1: and to add variety. How difficult it is with some
37:48
Speaker 1: who are so rigid that they take some of the
37:51
Speaker 1: fun out of that. Third, the Lord's table. One of
37:57
Speaker 1: the things we are to guard is that we keep
37:59
Speaker 1: observing it. You'd not believe how many places have pretty
38:02
Speaker 1: well relegated that to a couple times a year when
38:05
Speaker 1: it's convenient, maybe on a holiday. it's to be a
38:11
Speaker 1: sacred moment of soul searching and it's for believers only
38:15
Speaker 1: and it's the most serious form of worship and God's
38:19
Speaker 1: people are to observe the table and to remember the Savior.
38:24
Speaker 1: Those are essentials. Those are worth fighting for. But how
38:29
Speaker 1: we serve it and when we serve it and who
38:33
Speaker 1: serves it and what we call it, I have a
38:35
Speaker 1: dear friend in ministry who called it the Eucharist. And
38:39
Speaker 1: he was immediately after that service called in by the
38:42
Speaker 1: board and told he was through. He used the wrong word.
38:50
Speaker 1: Nobody told him that that's anathema around here. God bless him.
39:01
Speaker 1: The table is substance and It represents that which is
39:08
Speaker 1: life indeed. But the manner in which it is served
39:12
Speaker 1: and the singing that accompanies it or the silence or
39:16
Speaker 1: lights up or down or here or at a beach
39:19
Speaker 1: or whoever does it, my, that isn't worth a battle.
39:30
Speaker 1: Just a fourth, I would add, would be size, the
39:33
Speaker 1: physical size of a congregation, as opposed to the moral
39:38
Speaker 1: standard of the congregation. Moral standard is absolutely set. It's clear.
39:46
Speaker 1: But the size isn't. An incredible number of books are
39:50
Speaker 1: coming out on size of churches and what's even presented
39:55
Speaker 1: as the biblical size. What is the biblical size? Some
40:02
Speaker 1: places are phenomenal places of worship, such as Korea, and
40:07
Speaker 1: they gather by the tens of thousands. I read Colson's
40:14
Speaker 1: work and he said, I went with tongue in cheek
40:16
Speaker 1: and he said, I expected not to like it, but
40:19
Speaker 1: I have to admit the spirit of God was in
40:22
Speaker 1: that place. And I have seen places that number 12
40:25
Speaker 1: to 15 to 20 that I'd hate to be sentenced to.
40:32
Speaker 1: Dreadful places called houses of worship. I've been to large
40:37
Speaker 1: and small alike and so have you. But that didn't
40:40
Speaker 1: make it what it was. That didn't make it appealing
40:43
Speaker 1: or biblical. That's the container. That's silly talk. If God moves,
40:52
Speaker 1: if God gives growth, if he doesn't give growth, whatever,
40:56
Speaker 1: he says the standard of life is to remain holy.
41:01
Speaker 1: And that isn't flexible. It's to honor me. Okay. Now,
41:09
Speaker 1: let me wrap this up by talking about a gracious response.
41:19
Speaker 1: We're not to be soft on things that are substance matters.
41:28
Speaker 1: So let me make a couple, three comments. Our message
41:34
Speaker 1: is fixed and inflexible, but not our methods. Our message
41:41
Speaker 1: is fixed and inflexible. It fits between the covers of
41:45
Speaker 1: this book called the Bible. And if this book says it,
41:49
Speaker 1: then it's our job to teach it in whatever level.
41:52
Speaker 1: It's not our job to play around with it, to
41:55
Speaker 1: say it really means something else, or it's contradicting itself elsewhere,
42:02
Speaker 1: or you really have reason to doubt what's in this book.
42:04
Speaker 1: Our message is fixed. It's inflexible. It's got to be.
42:10
Speaker 1: We're unbending on that. But the method in which it's
42:14
Speaker 1: carried out is not. Second, our mandate is to defend
42:22
Speaker 1: the truth, not offend people. The cross offends. Far too
42:32
Speaker 1: many Christians offend. The cross offends. Our mandate is to
42:39
Speaker 1: defend the truth, not offend people. And third, our manner
42:46
Speaker 1: is to be loving, not proving. Our manner is to
42:52
Speaker 1: be a loving manner, gracious manner, not proving. I like
43:01
Speaker 1: the way the theologian summed it up. In essentials, unity.
43:06
Speaker 1: In non-essentials, liberty in all things. Charity. In essentials, unity.
43:15
Speaker 1: In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity. We need to
43:22
Speaker 1: ask ourselves if we are making waves about things in
43:25
Speaker 1: the places where we worship, if they really are essentials.
43:33
Speaker 1: If they are not, we need to back off. If
43:37
Speaker 1: they are in our opinion and we can find such
43:40
Speaker 1: in scripture, we need to talk to the individuals who
43:43
Speaker 1: can do something about it rather than to a group
43:47
Speaker 1: of our friends who can't do anything about it, but
43:51
Speaker 1: talk more. Now, having said all of that, I can
43:56
Speaker 1: put everybody's mind at ease. I'm not even aware of
43:58
Speaker 1: this going on in our church. Okay, so I'm not
44:02
Speaker 1: coming in at you like a coward saying what I
44:05
Speaker 1: don't have the guts to say one-on-one. This is the
44:09
Speaker 1: most marvelous place to minister. That's why I keep coming
44:12
Speaker 1: back here in a world of famine. Happiness is every
44:19
Speaker 1: other place in the rearview mirror. I love being right
44:23
Speaker 1: here because I think we're getting this stuff straight and
44:28
Speaker 1: we're learning together. It's marvelous. Now let's put our heads
44:35
Speaker 1: in our hands and let's close our eyes. Let's get quiet.
44:43
Speaker 1: Let's dim the lights. Let's see if we can block
44:48
Speaker 1: out stuff that's extraneous. We're going to worship our Savior
44:57
Speaker 1: in a spontaneous manner, going to enjoy His presence. We're
45:05
Speaker 1: going to search our souls. We're going to leave in silence.
45:11
Speaker 1: We're going to walk away from this place with these
45:13
Speaker 1: songs and hymns ringing in our minds. Do you know
45:21
Speaker 1: the Christ? Do you know the Lord Jesus? Ever been
45:26
Speaker 1: a time in your life when you've said, Lord, come
45:30
Speaker 1: into my life. Take charge. This topsy-turvy world of mine
45:37
Speaker 1: needs to be straightened out, and I ask you to
45:43
Speaker 1: begin with my sin. Cleanse me. Forgive me. Just as
45:51
Speaker 1: I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was
45:58
Speaker 1: shed for me. Lamb, I come. It may be for
46:07
Speaker 1: the child of God the time of refreshment, renewal. Paul
46:14
Speaker 1: says if we judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
46:19
Speaker 1: The avenger backs off when you deal with wrong in
46:23
Speaker 1: your life. Do that now. Make these moments meaningful, our Father,
46:33
Speaker 1: as we talk with you and sing with you As
46:39
Speaker 1: we feel the warmth of your smile upon us because
46:43
Speaker 1: you love us, thank you, Father, for acceptance in the beloved.
46:52
Speaker 1: Thank you for the joys of home and the deep
46:57
Speaker 1: roots of our faith. Thank you for the precious treasure
47:05
Speaker 1: which we embrace. May our time be rich and deep. Amen.