Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Making a Lasting Difference │ Msg 914 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

Transcript

Making a Lasting Difference │ Msg 914 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: All scripture is God breed and is profitable for doctrine,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: the man or woman of God may be made complete, mature,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: complete in every way. We always turn to the Word
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: of God with that hope and confidence, knowing that each
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: section has been equally God breathed and therefore preserved for
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: our instruction. If you have a Bible with you this morning,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: please locate two Timothy chapter three. You will also find
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: in your worship folder and outline for the message of
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: the morning that you may want to place here in
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: the crease of your Bible. When we finished with the
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: reading of Second Timathy chapter three, beginning at verse ten
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: through verse fourteen, and now in respect for the scriptures
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: and in the honor of the name of Christ, we
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: stand together for the reading of God's Word two Timothy
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: chapter three, verses ten through fourteen. Now you followed my
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: teaching conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions and sufferings
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: at Listra. What persecutions I endured, and out of them
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: live godly in Christ, Jesus will be persecus, but evil
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: and being deceived you, however, you continue in the things
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: you have learned and become convinced of knowing from whom
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: you have learned them. May Our God be honored in
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: the reading and in the living out of His word.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: You may be seated. Each time an offering is taken,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: we often think it's appropriate moment to explain that this
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: is an occasion for God's people to support God's work.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: If you visit with us today, we certainly would not
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: expect a gift from you. It would be like you're
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: paying for a meal at a table in our home
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: where we have hosted you. If you are here without Christ,
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: we certainly would urge you not to give, but take
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: this as an opportunity to receive God's gift for you,
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: which comes completely without any cost to you. It costs
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: the Son of God his life, but by giving you
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: his life, he provides you with the opportunity to claim
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: eternal life with God forever. And this would be a
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: great occasion as other people around you give for you
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: to receive his gift, which is forgiveness and eternal kind
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: of life. Maybe bow together as Christians prepare to give,
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: and as we bow before him to give ourselves first
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: before our offerings. Each line of each song and each
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: hymn we have sung today our Father is a melodic
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: reflection that comes from our own hearts. These are not
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: mere words that fit on a page or on a screen.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: They are testimony. We see ourselves as we have declared,
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: nothing but a wretch in whom you have found favor.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: We bring nothing to you. You are the one who
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: has rescued us. We have not died that others may live.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: You have died that we may live. And thank you
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: for your son's death. If we were to spend another
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: one hundred years on this planet, we would not find
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: sufficient words to thank you. Our gratitude knows no bounds.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: And we paused today before this offering to express the
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: delightful privilege that is ours of all things, to give
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: to you, the one who has given so much to us.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: Thank you for your son, who knew no sin, neither
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: was guile found in his mouth, who when he was reviled,
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: reviled not again when he suffered, he threatened not but
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: committed himself to him who judges righteously, who his own
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: self bore our sins in his own body on the tree,
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: that we, being dead to sin, should live under righteousness,
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: by whose stripe we are healed. Because of the healing
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: and because of the rescuing, all because of your grace,
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: we pause with our gifts in the name of Jesus
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Christ we give today. And all his people said amen.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: Most people I know want to make a difference. In fact,
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: they want to make a lasting difference in the lives
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: of others. Most people I know do not want to
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: drift along in mediocrity. You do not want to be
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: swallowed up in anonymity or obscurity. As a matter of fact,
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: you want to make a difference in the lives of
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: people around you. You're not driven by money. If you
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: are in this category, you are not driven by fame.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: You're not afraid of hardship or sacrifice. As a matter
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: of fact, you're not even worried about the risk involved,
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: because you want to make a difference, a difference that lasts.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: You certainly are not looking for an early retirement, because
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: you know that life continues on as long as you
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: have breath in your lungs, you want your life to
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: count for something. A classic example of this occurred back
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: in nineteen fourteen in the life of a man named
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: Ernest Henry Shackleton. Shackleton had a vision, a dream to
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: accomplish something that had never been done before. He wanted
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: to lead an expedition across Antarctica. How's that for a
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: dream or a vision? He knew we couldn't do it alone,
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: and he would have to recruit people like minded, just
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: as stronghearted and determined. If they were going to make
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: that journey with him, they would have to be willing
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: to risk, to care nothing about the life threatening sacrifices
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: that would be involved. So how would he recruit those people?
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: As legend has it, he knew nothing better than to
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: take out an ad in the London Times, although the
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: original has yet to be located. According to the book
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: The Greatest Advertisements eighteen fifty two to nineteen fifty eight,
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: the ad appeared as follows. Men wanted for hazardous journey,
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger,
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: safe return, doubtful honor and recognition in case of success.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: Ernest Shackleton for Burlington Street. Amazingly, it became the single
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: most popular ad in the history of newspapers. Five thousand
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: and more men offered themselves to this task, along with
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: three very brave young women. Within days, the names began
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: to deluge the man's life, men and women alike. Saying
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: we want to make a difference, a difference that will
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: never be forgotten, he announced his intention to go across
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: the South Pole. He invited those to submit their names
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: to conditions that would be harsh, numerous, in fact, on
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: some occasions, virtually humanly impossible. The pay would be low,
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: more like a token honorarium. But Ernest Shackleton found his group.
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: As he put it, they were not merely talented or
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: physically strong people. He looked for intangible qualities such as attitude, character, or,
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: as Winston Churchill used to refer to it, chardaka chaaka
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: a team spirit, qualities that would transform a collection of
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: individuals into a synergistic union of souls, a team. The
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: phenomenal story is recorded in a book. You must read.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: After you read it, be sure your kids read it.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: After your kids read it, be sure your grandkids get
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: a copy. You need to read it to them. It
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: is titled one title, one word Endurance. Shackleton's story is
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: recorded in this phenomenal book. His desire was to make
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: a lasting difference, and by the way, that never just happens.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: It's the result of possessing the right qualities that are
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: essential in having the determination to get you through the
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: tough stuff. All of this brings us to the five
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: verses that are in the core of two Timothy Chapter three,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: Please turn there. Paul the older is writing Timothy the younger, Paul,
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: who will soon die at the hands of the Romans,
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: passing on this information to Timothy, who will live on
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: as he pastors the church in Ephesus, hundreds of miles away.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: These words are Paul's way of saying, stay with it,
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: go for the goal, don't let anything stop you. Continue on, Timothy.
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: Or in the words of the great theologian Larry the
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: Cable Guy, get her done. Get her done, Timothy. We
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: laugh at that, we smile at that. The guy's hilarious.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: But the fact is I have never accomplished anything in
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: my life without that particular motto ringing strong, Nor have you.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: You do not just happen to get an education You
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: do not just happen to accomplish some goal you have
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: set for yourself. You don't just happen to make a
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: difference in someone else's life. You don't stumble into that.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: It is the result of you, yourself, determining to be different.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: I was reared with that philosophy. Son, we don't care
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: what the neighbors say or do, or think we are
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: swind dolls. We will do it our way. And he
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: drilled that into me as only my wife could tell you.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: We will be ourselves regardless of what anyone else is,
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: or says or does. So I was halfway there by
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: the time I got in the Marine Corps, and they
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: just finished off the job right then. Getter done was
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: the motto of the Marine Corps, though I never heard
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: it while I was in there. It was put other
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: ways that I'll not get into. The goal put simply
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: is this, write it down to make a lasting difference
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: in the lives of people around me. That's the goal.
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: Two practical comments before we get further into this passage.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: To make a difference means you must be different, samey same.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: Never got the job done, being like everybody else, never
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: made an impression to make a difference, you must be different. Secondly,
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: to be different, you must cultivate the qualities that are
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: essential for that difference. To be different, you must cultivate
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: the qualities. That's why Paul spends time to name one
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: after another as he writes to Timothy, knowing that Timothy
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: will outlive him. A quick overview before we get into
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: the details of the verses. Look at these verses for yourself,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: Verses ten through fourteen of two Timothy, Chapter three. If
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: you were to sit down at your kitchen table open
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: your Bible to this passage, these are a couple or
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: three things I would give you as tips for sort
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: of opening the passage for you. Often think in terms
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: of time, past, present, and future when you're reading a passage.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: Look for that. Look for hints that give those clues. Now,
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: they won't always be in that order, as these verses
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: would model for us. First there is the past, then
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: Paul jumps to the future, then it comes back to
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: the present, all the while saying to Timothy in so
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: many words, I want you to make a difference, unlike
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: all of the others around you. How do I know
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: Verses ten and eleven are referring to the past. Look
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: at the verses. You'll find four words that end with ed,
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: How pedante can I get? Huh, Timothy, Now you've followed ed,
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: that's the past. Verse eleven, the persecutions and sufferings which happened. Ed,
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: that's the past. Happened in Antiolic and Iconium and Listra.
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: I endured ed. That's the past. Out of them all,
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: the Lord rescued me. Ed, that's the past. You followed.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: These things happened, I endured them. The Lord rescued them,
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: all of those things. Look back, Timothy, remember how it was.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: When you get to verses twelve and thirteen, the future
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: is introduced with the word will. Look at the verses. Indeed,
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: be persecuted. There's your clue. Look at the next one.
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: Evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: That's another clue. When you read, will you know your
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: reading of the future. I'll get to that in the moment.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: But that is an absolute prediction of what we can anticipate.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: It isn't something that might have applied to the biblical days.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: That is a prediction true to our own day you
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: determine to live godly, you will be persecuted. If there
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: are enough of you living godly, you can count on this.
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: The impostors and deceivers will proliferate, and as a result,
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: they will work hard to make your life miserable. They
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: will proceed from bad to worse. Count on it. It's
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: a biblical promise. It's a prediction. So what do I
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: do with a past like that and with a future
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: like this? How do I handle myself in the present?
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: See the word continue in verse of fourteen. You, however,
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: continue in the things you have learned. That's a word
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: for the present. If I tell you to continue on
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: with something, I'm not talking about the past. I'm not
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: referring to the future. I'm saying keep on, keeping on,
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: continue on now the past. Here's something to write down
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: regarding the past, to model the truth we've been taught,
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: regardless of the tests and trials that come. As you
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: look to the past, you want to remember those who
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: model the truth that they were taught and have taught us,
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: regardless of the trials and the tests that come. Let
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: me state here a principle that I would wish you
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: would write down as well, it's something that I've never read,
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: but it's something you can pass on to someone else.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: There is a powerful link l I n K. There's
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: a powerful link between remembrance and continuance. There's a powerful
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: link between what we remember and how we continue. I've
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: had the privilege of having some great teachers in my life.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: I had great parents, I have a great wife, I
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: have great kids, I have a great mentors. I have,
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: thank the Lord, a great education thanks to the grace
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: of God and the patience of teachers. I have great
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: reminders of days past where knowledge was poured into my life.
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: It came from all different directions, always from people. Information
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: comes from people. I follow those people as best I can.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: When I fail, it's often because I am not following
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: the things I learned from my past. I don't make
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: a difference if I don't follow that kind of teaching. Now,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: Paul's concern was for Timothy. That's why he begins with
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: the two little words that you tempted to run right
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: on by. Now you now you verse ten. Why is
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: that important? Because they are connectives to the first nine verses.
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: The first nine verses you remember is a depravity on
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: parade It's the unfolding of nineteen qualities that characterize those
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: who are lost, those who are deceived, and those who
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: are deceiving. But you Verse ten. But you Timothy, but
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: you Sureley, but you Doris, but you, Chuck, but you Bill,
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: But you Martha, but you, Sue, but you Frank, But
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: you Jack. This is written to you and me, just
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: as it was written to Timothy. But you, unlike those
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: who are deceiving and being deceived. You were different, Timothy.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: You were different. I could call your names again. You
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: were different, Chuck. I could say to myself, why Timothy,
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: Why was he different? Look at what it says, because
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: you followed. And now he names nine memories in Timothy's life,
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: each of which in the original text has a definite article.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: The allow me, though it will be a little bit wooden,
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: let me read it to you literally. Now you followed.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: The teaching, the conduct, the purpose, the faith, the patience,
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: the love, the perseverance, the persecutions, and the sufferings. Each
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: one is a category unto itself. And as Timothy unrolled
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: the scroll and read the letter for the first time,
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: he remembered. He remembered, he remembered the years he had
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: traveled with Paul. He remembered the events that occurred. He
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: remembered the times of teaching. Were sitting under candlelight. Paul
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: would lean over and say to Timothy, now remember this
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: such and such and so and so or let me
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: show you what the Lord has revealed to me. And
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: he would teach him. That's what he means here by
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: the teaching, the teaching. Now, this is a very important
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: point to remember. We follow people physically. That's called follow
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: the leader. And that's simple, that's easy. We do it
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: as a child. But we also follow other people mentally.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: We say that I follow you. Someone is making something clear,
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: You say I follow you, I follow where you're going.
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: Far more importantly, we follow people spiritually. I could still
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: remember in my mind's eye, I can see the scene
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: where I saw a mentor on his knees pouring out
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: his heart to God on a rainy night on the
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: island of Okinawa. He didn't even know I was watching.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: I knew he was going through a terribly difficult time,
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: and I saw him as he was pouring out his
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: heart to God. And I remember his conduct. See the
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: word here followed my teaching. You followed my conduct. The
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: word means lifestyle. The Scottish people say some things are
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: better felt than telt. When you follow people's conduct, it
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: rubs off on you. They don't say, and now my
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: conduct is going to reveal so and so, and we
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: take a note on it. No, it doesn't work like that.
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: We see them under stress. We watch them under pressure.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: We see them respond to their critics. We watch how
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: they handle sickness, affliction, disappointment. We see how they handle
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: rewards and accomplishments. We watch their conduct. Timothy, you have
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: the benefit of having the teaching, the conduct, even the purpose.
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: The word means aim in life. You have followed my
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: aim in life. One wag put it this way. If
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: you shoot at nothing, you'll hit it every time. You
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: who have no purpose for living are living a rather
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: blank life. It's purposeless. You're sort of living from one
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: day to the next. It reminds me of a cartoon
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: out of Peanuts. Years ago, Charles Schultz included this little
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: scene where the dog Snoopy carries the message to the reader.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: Lionus takes the stick and he throws the stick, and
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: Snoopy looks at the stick as it flies through the
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: air and lands, and he sits there and looks at
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: it doesn't move. Thanks to Charles Schultz, we know what
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: Snoopy is thinking in his mind. He says, I want
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: people to have more to say about me when I'm
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: gone than he was a nice guy and he chased sticks.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: When Paul finished his life, no one would say he's
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: a nice guy and he chased sticks. What's going to
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: be written on your stone? Come to think of it,
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: he's a nice guy. He lived forty seven years, or
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: he lived seventy eight years, or she raised four kids
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: and died at age ninety two. With Paul, that will
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: say you followed my teaching, my conduct, my purpose, my
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: aim of life. The next four go together. They are
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: sort of the cardinal virtues of the Christian life. Faith, patience, love, perseverance.
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: Look at those four words, I lump them together. Faith
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: is trust in God. The next word is patience with God,
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: love for God, and endurras waiting on God. You remember that, Timothy,
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: you have good solid roots. By the way, it will
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: give you a first hand acquaintance with the living God.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: Thomas Carlyle the Scottish Essays, remembered when he was a
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: boy the words of his father as their parish was
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: without a pastor. The father was gravely concerned over the
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: pastor they would get to fill the responsibilities of their church.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: Carlile records these words of his father, what this parish
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: needs is a minister who knows and loves Christ other
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: than at second hand. Who knows and loves Christ other
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: than at second hand. If you have a pastor who
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: has a secondhand love for Christ, you have an absence
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: of passion and enthusiasm. If you yourself are lacking in
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: this sense of first hand love, patience, a trust, an endurance,
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: you won't make it in any sense of purpose, in
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: any way of shaping the lives of others, not just
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: stories of other people's love and faith and patience and endurance,
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: but your own. See the word perseverance. It's from two
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: Greek words that mean to abide under. Hoopo was under
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: in Menno is to abide. It was used for a
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: donkey when you loaded it up with a burden that
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: was to be carried on a long journey. The donkey
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: was said to hoopo menno the burden. He would abide
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: under the load. By the way, we put a lot
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: of emphasis on people who were healed from diseases, and
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: we're grateful for each healing, but we don't place much
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: emphasis on those who endure through years of not being healed.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: You know someone like that, someone you've loved all the
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: way to death perhaps or near death. That's endurance, and
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: your being by their side is a mark of endurance.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: I got a sweet note from a longtime friend of mine,
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: Howie Stevenson, who was greeting me on a birthday, and
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: he said, us want to tell you. I just have
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: great memories of our years together. And he went in
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: through all of it and he said, my life is
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: now spent with Maryland. She's suffering from a form of
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: dementia now. And he said, these are the ways I
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: spend my life today. He's enduring. I wrote him back
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: a word I hope was a word of encouragement. I said,
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: you've exchanged the spotlight for the twilight, and you're still faithful.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: One of the marks of maturity is endurance. See it here.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: It says persecutions and sufferings such as happened to me, Timothy.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: You remember that, By the way, something terrible happens when
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: we see a mentor suffer. I don't know if you've
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: lived to do that. But if one of your teachers
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: goes through a time of rejection or painful conditions, or
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: being misunderstood, it hurts you deeply. You know what Timothy
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: remembers of Paul, his being stoned at Listra, That was
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: Timothy's hometown. You remember that, Timothy, You remember when you
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: dragged me out from under those stones. Remember the blood
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: and the lacerations and the scars that followed. Those are
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: the things that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium,
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: and at Lystra. Don't you love the next statement? Look
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: at verse eleven. What persecutions I endured? Out of them all?
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: The Lord rescued me. It's a great word, rescue. We
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: sang of it this morning. He rescued the souls of men.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: He rescues us. Let me give you a couple of
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: thoughts on this before we go further. Denying our suffering
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: is not a mark of maturity. Denying suffering, denying hardship
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: is not a mark of maturity. Don't deny it, acknowledge it.
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: If you're going through a hard time, don't say it's
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: not a hard time. Paul says, what persecutions I endured sometime.
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: By remembering the hard times, you're given strength to handle
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: the better times. And another little tip, remembering God rescues
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: us makes us stronger for the next time we need him.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: Remembering that God rescues us makes us stronger for the
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: next time we need him. Remember the story of David
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: and Goliath. Of course you do. We all remember David
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: in the sling shot and that great, big, old lumbering
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: Goliath of Gath, and Saul wouldn't take him on. And David,
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: youngster that he was, shows up at the battlefield and
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: says to Saul, and let me at him a get
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: her done. Let me out there, remember what Saul did.
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: Saul puts his own armor on, David puts his helmet, clunk,
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: puts his big coat of mail. Saul understand, is a
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: fifty six long, David is a thirty two short. Me
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: just a little guy saying there. And David says this,
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: I can't walk in these There's not a great line.
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: So he takes his helmet off, takes armour off of him,
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: takes the sword away from him. The sword had a
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: drag out there, but what he had was a sling
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: and a few stones and Saul looks at him and says,
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: you're but a youth, and this man has been a
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: warrior since he was a youth. He's mean as a
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: junkyard dog. You just been keeping sheep. David says, no, no, no, no.
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: But you don't know is that I've killed a lion
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: and a bear when I was protecting my father's sheep.
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: You read the story in First Samuel seventeen. Nobody talks
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: about this. Saul's bottom jaw hits his chest. You killed
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: a lion and a bear, yep. I mean, have you
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: ever met anybody that says, hey, by the way, yesterday
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: I killed a lion. That night I killed a bear.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: I see people with scars all over them that met
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: up with a bear, but the bear had them. David says,
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: I killed a lion, just go there, and I killed
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: a bear. And who is this uncircumcised for estee that
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: he should taunt the armies of the living God. How
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: could David take on Goliath? He had a lion and
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: a bear's story. Don't forget your lion and bear stories.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: Don't forget to pass them on to your children. Tell
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: him about the lions and the bears and God's rescuing you.
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: How could Daniel go into the lions den without fear? Why?
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: Three chapters earlier he records the event where Shadrakmisha can
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: have been to go went through a fiery furnace. Hey,
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: I'll take on lions any day, in comparison to twelve
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: thousand fahrenheit fire in a furnace. He had seen the
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: Lord deliver him there, He was going to deliver him here.
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: That's how you do it. And so he says, the
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: Lord rescued me out of them all? How good is
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: that word? All of them? Now the future. Look, if
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: you're taking notes to face tomorrow realistically, regardless of how
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: hard times will be, the purpose of this passage is
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: to help us face tomorrow realistically, regardless of how hard
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: the times will be, and believe me, they will get harder.
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: Look at what it says. Indeed, there's a lot of
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: emphasis in that word. Indeed, Timothy, all who desire to
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: live godly in Christ Jesus, what will be persecuted? Timothy?
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: Count on it. You want to live a godly life,
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: you want to be so different that you make a
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: lasting difference in the life of others. You will be misunderstood.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: You will be mistreated, You will be talked about, You
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: will be misunderstood and forgotten and pushed aside. Count on it.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: Don't be surprised by it, Peter writes, don't be surprised
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: at the fiery trial, which is to try you as
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: though some strange thing happened to you. I'm surprised we're
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: not more persecuted. May say something of our lack of godliness.
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: be persecuted. And in fact, if you think things are
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: gonna get better, look at verse thirteen. Evil men and women.
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: This implies impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: and being deceived. What is the year gonna bring? It's
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: gonna bring impostors who will proceed from bad to worse.
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: How about the year twenty twenty It's gonna bring impostors
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: who will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: What if the Lord terrries into twenty twenty five, You're
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: gonna find people deceiving and being deceived. You're gonna find
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: things worse. America will be a harder place to live
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: for Christ than it is now. And it is now
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: harder than it was when I was a child, And
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: it was harder when I was a child than it
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: was when my father was a child. Because things erode,
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: because impostors increase, because deception intensifies, because evil proliferates. Count
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: on it, Timothy. That's why Jesus said to his followers,
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: blessed are you when people persecute you and say all
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: manner of evil against you, so persecuted they the prophets.
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: Now verse fourteen, the present, here's the present. What do
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: we say about the present? To be ready for whatever
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: may occur, no matter the challenge. To be ready for
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: whatever may occur, no matter the challenge. Look at this you, however,
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: here's another you, Dad. You, however, there's an emphasis in
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: the original, just like the beginning of verse ten. Now you, you, however, Timothy,
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: are going to make a difference because you are different.
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: You continue as a great word. Remember, remembrance has a
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: direct link to continuing to continuance. Remember, continue in the
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: things you have learned, and become convinced of knowing from
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: whom you have learned them. You've got a reliable source
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: in my life. But go back to the words learned
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: and become convinced. There's a difference. We learn knowledge we
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: learn information. I learned algebra. Let me use another example.
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: I learned history from a good history teacher. I tried
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: to learn algebra and it didn't work. I learned Greek
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: from Greek teachers. I learned Hebrew from good Hebrew teachers.
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: I learned theology from great theology teachers. I learned information.
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: That's what I learned. None of it gave me convictions.
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: None of it gave me knowledge. Timothy back to verse fourteen.
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: I'll get to the other in a moment. Continue in
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: the things you have learned. When he said by candlelight
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: and learned the doctrines, Timothy learned him from Paul. Paul
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: passed him along when he learned of the revelations God
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: had given Paul. Timothy learned about the revelation when he
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: learned about the church. He learned knowledge about the church
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: from Paul, but he didn't learn convictions. Convictions come when
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: we turned the knowledge into actions and we began to endure,
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: We began to stand fast. We were willing to sign
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: up for the journey across the Antarctic continent in life
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: and convictions occur at that point. I'm going to tell
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: you a quick flashback when my class graduated from seminary
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: back in nineteen sixty three. I remember doctor wolverd Living
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: at the time was the president of the school, and
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: he said with a frown as he looked out over
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: our group of men, not that large in number. We
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: were all men at the time the school. He said,
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: I have a I'm grateful for each one of you,
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: but I have a concern. I fear that you are
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: graduating with a great deal of knowledge and not very
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: many convictions. Wow. And he was right. Four years at
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: Dallas Seminary will give you knowledge, it won't give you convictions.
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: You have to cultivate those four years at any school
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: will give you information, but it will never give you wisdom.
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: Endurhams character the determination to press on, and so to
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: make a lasting difference, we must hold fast to the
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: truth that's the past, stand strong on our convictions as
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: we face the future, knowing knowing that times will get
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: more difficult and more difficult. But it's still worth it,
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: still worth it. By the way, you may want to
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: know the ending of the story of Ernest Shackleton, he
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: never reached his destination. The ship which was named the
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: boat that was named Endurance never really actually found its
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: desired destination. They came between the flow of ice, and
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: the ice crushed the boat so that it began to
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: go down, and they took the wood from it, from
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: which they built the fire and whatever got the boat off,
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: from which Shackleton and a few chosen individuals made their
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: way to an island, South American Island, and came back
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: and found the men alive remarkably and rescued them. But
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: it all seemed in vain, I'm sure to them. However,
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: what you may not know is that their story motivated
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: and made a difference in the life of another who
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: did reach his destination. His name was Sir Edmund Hillary.
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: Do I speak today to a few climbers. Hillary was
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: the first to go to the peak of the Himalayas,
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: to scale Mount Everest. These are his words Hillary's Worlds,
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: who lived years later. Of all the explorers I would
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: like to have known, Shackleton was the most admirable. It
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: is as a leader of men and as an overcomer
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: of appalling obstacles that Shackleton really excelled. Not for him
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: an easy task and a quick success. He was at
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: his best when the going was toughest. The enormous affection
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: and respect he engendered in his expedition members, often mighty
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: men themselves, shines through in their diaries and their writings.
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: So wrote Daniel Burston in his book The Discoverers. It
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: looked as though it was all in vain, just as
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: you may feel your life is. What you don't know
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: is the lives who are watching you, who are being
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: changed by your example. Go back two thousand years and
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: look at across read the minds of eleven disciples defeat
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: all is lost. We followed him these three years in vain.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: He's dead on the cross. No, God's greatest rescue plan,
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: and all of time occurred three days later when he
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: was what raised from the dead dawned on the disciples.
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: He must have met what he said when he talked
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: about dying and being raised from the dead. And then
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: Jesus looked at them on the mount of Olives and
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: said to them, get her done. The job isness anywhere
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: near over. And I say the same thing to every
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: one of us. The resurrection was God's amen. It is finished.
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: He raised and changed the lives, and from the lives
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: he changed, He transformed the world. They made a difference
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: among the people around them, and you and I must
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: do the same, regardless of how dark it is today.
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: The cross is a reminder that no matter how dark
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: it gets, there is a brightness in God's rescuing power.
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: That's the message of this passage. You have breath in
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: your lungs. You're not sure this afternoon. Get in front
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: of a mirror and go. If there's a little fog
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: that appears, you're safe. If it doesn't, call your doctor.
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: You need help. But you're alive. And if you're alive,
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: there's a purpose. If there's a purpose, it's to make
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: a difference in somebody else's life. Otherwise you're spinning your wheels.
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: And you bought the message of today that life is
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: all about you, which it is not. It's about glorifying
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: our Savior. Must bow our heads together. This was the
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: perfect occasion for you, who never done so before, to
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: turn your heart and life over to Christ. He's the
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: one who paid the complete penalty for your sins, complete penalty,
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: as one wag put it, He picked up the tab.
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: Jesus paid it all all to him, we owe our
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: father meet with us in a very special way in
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: these quiet moments. May we look at this cross again
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: and anew and remember that it was he who died
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: on our behalf and lives today having been raised. Thank
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: you for his life. May our life model his more
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: effective and consistently in the years ahead. Thank you, anew,
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: our father, for the cross, for all that it represents,
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: the shame, the suffering, the payment, the abandonment from yourself,
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: as the sin was born of the whole world, whose
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: blood keeps on cleansing us from all sins. I pray
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: that you will drill to our minds and hearts the
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: things we have heard today. May we realize that the
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: one who made such a difference in the world has
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: made a difference in our lives for a purpose, that is,
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: that we might make a difference in the generation in
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: which we live. Here the devotion of our hearts today
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: in his matchless name, we pray everyone said Amen.
• 43:58
  Speaker 2: The preceding message Making a Lasting Difference was copyrighted in
• 44:03
  Speaker 2: two thousand and nine and twenty fifteen, and the sound
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: recording was copyrighted in twenty fifteen by Charles R. Swindall, Inc.
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: All Rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 44:15
  Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.