Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Urgent Words from a Dungeon │ Msg 114 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Urgent Words from a Dungeon │ Msg 114 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: If you follow the ministry of the Navigators, find Christian
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  Speaker 1: organization been in existence many years. You know. Their motto
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  Speaker 1: is taken from Philippians three ten, and they call it
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  Speaker 1: to know Christ and to make Him known. Knowing Christ,
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  Speaker 1: which is a matter of salvation, and making Him known
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  Speaker 1: is a matter of proclamation. You may have come today
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  Speaker 1: without a knowledge of Christ, and how great it is
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  Speaker 1: to have you with us, and to know that you
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  Speaker 1: would step into a setting that may be a little
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  Speaker 1: foreign for you, take some guts. We sing songs you
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  Speaker 1: don't know, and we do things you're not familiar with.
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  Speaker 1: And the fact that you would come and sort of well,
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  Speaker 1: I often call them tire kickers. You know, you kind
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  Speaker 1: of walk through the lot and you check this out,
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  Speaker 1: and you look at that, and you listen for this,
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  Speaker 1: and you might wonder what is it that drives a
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  Speaker 1: body of people to gather like this. It's to no Christ,
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  Speaker 1: and it's the pleasure of making Him known. Please don't
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  Speaker 1: think that by giving God your money you're going to
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  Speaker 1: somehow get to know God or a relationship with Christ.
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  Speaker 1: You can't buy your way in, even if you gave
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  Speaker 1: him a million bucks, even if you did it every
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  Speaker 1: year His gift is free of charge. You see, someone
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  Speaker 1: else picked up the tab that happened at the cross
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  Speaker 1: where Jesus died for sinners like me, like others sitting
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  Speaker 1: in this room, and like you. So this is a
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  Speaker 1: great time for you to consider knowing Christ and then
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  Speaker 1: join us in the pleasure of making Him known in
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  Speaker 1: the years ahead. If you love scripture memory, you'll want
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  Speaker 1: to not only memorize that tenth verse, but you'll want
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  Speaker 1: to add to it eleven through fourteen. Philippians three ten
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  Speaker 1: through fourteen would be a great project for you to
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  Speaker 1: commit to memory this summer. It is Paul's magnificent obsession.
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  Speaker 1: Speaking of Paul, we are beginning today a study of
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  Speaker 1: his final letter, the Letter of Tewod Timothy, And to
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  Speaker 1: help make it come alive for you, I've provided not
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  Speaker 1: only an outline, which you will find in your worship folder,
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  Speaker 1: but also on the opposite side a horizontal chart. And
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  Speaker 1: if you will just keep that handy, we'll use both
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  Speaker 1: as guidelines as we today cover what I would call
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  Speaker 1: a survey of the letter, and then starting next time
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  Speaker 1: we're together, we will move into chapter one, verse one,
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  Speaker 1: and work our way through the letter from now until
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  Speaker 1: just about the time we have a Christmas celebration, so
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  Speaker 1: we're in no hurry. Remember we spent ninety three years
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  Speaker 1: in job and so this shouldn't surprise you. I find
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  Speaker 1: that if you read too quickly, you won't get the
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  Speaker 1: truth of something. And often the things you appreciate most
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  Speaker 1: you read more than once. So we'll want to digest
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  Speaker 1: his final words, which are some of his most important ones.
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  Speaker 1: Around here we really place an emphasis on the respect
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  Speaker 1: for the Word of God, and therefore when we read
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  Speaker 1: it even today, these excerpts from two Timothy, I invite
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  Speaker 1: to stand. Please stand and follow along as I read
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  Speaker 1: from various sections of Tewod Timothy, Verses one and two.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter one Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the
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  Speaker 1: will of God according to the promise of life in
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  Speaker 1: Christ Jesus to Timothy, my beloved son, Grace, mercy and
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  Speaker 1: peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
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  Speaker 1: Verse thirteen. Retain the standard of sound words which you
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  Speaker 1: have heard from me in the faith and love which
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  Speaker 1: are in Christ Jesus. Guard through the Holy Spirit who
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  Speaker 1: dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter two, Verse three, suffer hardship with me as a
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  Speaker 1: good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service
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  Speaker 1: entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that
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  Speaker 1: he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter three, verse twelve. Indeed, all who desire to live
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  Speaker 1: godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, but evil men
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  Speaker 1: and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and
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  Speaker 1: being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned,
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  Speaker 1: and become convinced of knowing from whom you have learned them,
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  Speaker 1: that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which
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  Speaker 1: are able to give you the wisdom that leads to
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  Speaker 1: salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. And finally,
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  Speaker 1: chapter four, verse one, I solemnly charge you, in the
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  Speaker 1: presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to
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  Speaker 1: judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing
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  Speaker 1: and his kingdom, preach the word. Be ready in season
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  Speaker 1: and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience
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  Speaker 1: and instruction. Verse twenty one. Make every effort to come
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  Speaker 1: before winter. Ubullus greet you also Pudens and Linus and
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  Speaker 1: Claudia and all the brethren. The Lord be with your spirit.
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  Speaker 1: Grace be with you. May God cause his grace to
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  Speaker 1: rest upon us, and truth to set us free as
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  Speaker 1: a result of hearing and applying His word. Please be seated.
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  Speaker 1: I couldn't help but notice as I looked out over
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  Speaker 1: the congregation that many of you have come today without
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  Speaker 1: your Bible. It's possible you forgot yours. That's understandable. It's
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  Speaker 1: also possible that you don't own one or usually bring
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  Speaker 1: one to a church you attend. And let me encourage
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  Speaker 1: you to get a copy of the scriptures. They are
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  Speaker 1: available today, Thank Goodness in our tongue, in every possible size,
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  Speaker 1: print style, version imaginable. People often ask what I use,
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  Speaker 1: and I will tell you the version I use as
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  Speaker 1: the New American Standard version, the Expanded Translation. It's the
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  Speaker 1: Charles Riery Study Bible. To be specific, the reason I
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  Speaker 1: use the New American Standard is not because it's most readable,
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  Speaker 1: but because it's most accurate. Scripture that comes to us
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  Speaker 1: in the English language is based on the original Hebrew
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  Speaker 1: text in the Old Testament Greek text in the New Testament,
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  Speaker 1: translating from Hebrew and Greek versions sometime take liberties with
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  Speaker 1: the English translation. In the New American Standard Bible, the
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  Speaker 1: least liberties are taken. So what you give up in readability,
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  Speaker 1: you make up for an accuracy, and that, of course,
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  Speaker 1: is the goal of serious Bible study, the accurate, careful,
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  Speaker 1: practical understanding of scripture. Join with me in prayer, will you,
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  Speaker 1: our Father. Our worship this morning is punctuated with moments
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  Speaker 1: of music and now quietness, times of reading your sacred word,
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  Speaker 1: occasions for there to be the preaching of the message.
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  Speaker 1: But the most important part lies ahead of us, and
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  Speaker 1: that is when all of this is over and we
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  Speaker 1: live out what we have taken in. Make us like
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  Speaker 1: the sea of Galilee, where there is a rich flow
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  Speaker 1: of fresh water into and out of it, rather than
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  Speaker 1: the sea where water only comes in and stagnates a
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  Speaker 1: dead sea. Make us channels of fresh hope and encouragement
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  Speaker 1: to others. Cause there to be a refreshing inflow of
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  Speaker 1: your spirit, who ignites worship and the truth as it
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  Speaker 1: has lived out. Bring encouragement to those who are downhearted
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  Speaker 1: to day, lift the spirits of those who are depressed
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  Speaker 1: and downcast. Comfort those today who grieve the loss of
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  Speaker 1: those near them, loved ones they'll no longer see and
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  Speaker 1: be with on this earth. Be especially near and dear
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  Speaker 1: to those whose hearts are broken for whatever reason, broken dreams,
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  Speaker 1: broken relationships, broken covenants, broken hopes. Thank you in advance, Father,
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  Speaker 1: that you are your beauty is able to bring loveliness
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  Speaker 1: into a world even like ours, that has lost its way.
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  Speaker 1: And thank you for the refreshment of your word and
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  Speaker 1: how it speaks to us in language we can understand,
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  Speaker 1: in terms we can grasp, and in practical ways we
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  Speaker 1: can apply. All of this is ours to enjoy. Because
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  Speaker 1: we are free, and the liberty we have has been
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  Speaker 1: one in bloody and harsh places, and so we pray
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  Speaker 1: for those who are living their lives in such places. Today.
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  Speaker 1: Watch over those in uniform, Take good care of those
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  Speaker 1: who fight for us and for the freedom of other countries.
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  Speaker 1: Guide those our Father who make decisions, and we pray
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  Speaker 1: that wisdom will accompany those decisions. Now, Lord, prepare us
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  Speaker 1: for this offering, as we released to you with great
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  Speaker 1: delight our gifts for the furtherance of the work of ministry.
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  Speaker 1: For the glory of Christ. In his name. We pray
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  Speaker 1: everyone said amen. Last words are often important words, sometime
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  Speaker 1: the most important words we will hear from someone. If
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  Speaker 1: you're at the airport these days and you see a family,
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  Speaker 1: little children holding onto the legs of a man in
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  Speaker 1: uniform about to be deployed for that mission oversees the
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  Speaker 1: dangerous places, you will see a family hanging on every
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  Speaker 1: word of that daddy. Something about the final words that
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  Speaker 1: are all the more important because they're the last words
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  Speaker 1: they may ever hear, or last words. For a long time,
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  Speaker 1: we've all known the experience of standing alongside a bed
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  Speaker 1: as of loved one of ours is about to go
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  Speaker 1: in for surgery. Just before the anesthetic sleep sets in.
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  Speaker 1: We listen to them, we talk with them, and if
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  Speaker 1: the surgery is critical, like life and death, we say
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  Speaker 1: very little. We listen so as never to forget those
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  Speaker 1: last words before sleep. If you'll have to read, quite
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  Speaker 1: likely you have a library of some size, and in
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  Speaker 1: your library are treasured books, not necessarily because of the
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  Speaker 1: book itself, though it is important, but perhaps because of
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  Speaker 1: the one who gave that book to you, especially if
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  Speaker 1: the one who gave that book meant a lot to you,
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  Speaker 1: and your love and respect for them is remembered. As
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  Speaker 1: you turn to the fly leaf and you read her
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  Speaker 1: words are his words, signed by the one you love,
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  Speaker 1: and a few especially meaningful given to me by my mother,
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  Speaker 1: who passed in nineteen sixty three. Almost without exception, when
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  Speaker 1: I pick up those particular volumes, before I go to
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  Speaker 1: the place I'm looking for in the text, I will
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  Speaker 1: pause and look at the page on which she wrote
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  Speaker 1: her words. Well, for me, those are her final words,
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  Speaker 1: for she died in her sleep one afternoon, and no
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  Speaker 1: one had a way of knowing she was going. So
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  Speaker 1: her words become all the more significant because they are
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  Speaker 1: in writing and they represent someone I have loved and
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  Speaker 1: respected throughout my life. There is a mixture of emotion
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  Speaker 1: that surround words like this. There's a sense of nostalgia,
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  Speaker 1: and it isn't uncommon on occasion for me to wipe
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  Speaker 1: away a tear that surprises me as it appears while
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  Speaker 1: reading words in that inimitable handwriting that had marked her
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  Speaker 1: life for as long as I had known her. As
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  Speaker 1: we turn the pages of our Bibles to the letter
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  Speaker 1: we know today as two Timothy, we have good reason
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  Speaker 1: to slow our pace and to read a little more carefully,
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  Speaker 1: For these are not only great words wise counsel, representing
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  Speaker 1: a part of God's inspired book. These are words written
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  Speaker 1: by one we have come to love and respect over
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  Speaker 1: the years, and even more so, these are his final words.
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  Speaker 1: We'll know nothing more from his hand once we have
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  Speaker 1: finished this letter. His closing line, Hey Charus methhumone, grace
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  Speaker 1: be with you. Final strokes of his stylus. The man
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  Speaker 1: can hear the heavy boots of Roman soldiers above his head.
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  Speaker 1: Death's near. The executioner awaits the moment as one man writes.
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  Speaker 1: The shadow of the executioners acts lies on every page
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  Speaker 1: of this letter. The writer of the letter has full
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  Speaker 1: knowledge of his impending death. He knew that his death
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  Speaker 1: would be brutal and soon and swift. His head would
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  Speaker 1: be severed from his body with one fall of the
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  Speaker 1: acts outside the city of Rome along the Austrian Way.
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  Speaker 1: So this letter is not idle chatter. It's the last
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  Speaker 1: will and testament of a dying man, a brilliant, brilliant theologian,
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  Speaker 1: a passionate martyr. All of that should heighten our interest
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  Speaker 1: in the letter two Timothy. I believe it was Bishop
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  Speaker 1: Handley Mule who said that he could never pick up
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  Speaker 1: the letter of two Timothy without a mist forming over
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  Speaker 1: his eyes, moving words. Let's learn some valuable information to
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  Speaker 1: help you understand a lot of the things around and
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  Speaker 1: about the letter. Who wrote it, for example, and to
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  Speaker 1: whom was it written. Thankfully we're not left to guesswork
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  Speaker 1: as we answer the two questions. And aren't we glad
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  Speaker 1: that people wrote in the first century as they did,
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  Speaker 1: not as we do in the twenty first Interesting to
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  Speaker 1: me that in our generation and our era, we always
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  Speaker 1: sign our name at the very end, and if we
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  Speaker 1: send the letter to someone, especially if it's not handwritten,
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  Speaker 1: they don't know who it's from, if they don't go
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  Speaker 1: all the way to the end and look for our Oh,
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  Speaker 1: it's from him. Whereas in the first century you knew
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  Speaker 1: right away Paul. He starts with his name, Paul. It's
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  Speaker 1: about three a d. Thirty three that this man's life
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  Speaker 1: is transformed. He has been a student of Gamaliel. He
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  Speaker 1: has become a pharisee in among the Judaizers. His name
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  Speaker 1: is a household word in the first century as one
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  Speaker 1: who not only persecuted Christians, but he haunted them down.
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  Speaker 1: He voted for their death. He hated them until on
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  Speaker 1: the road to Damascus. This thirty two to thirty three
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  Speaker 1: year old man born about one eighty one is blinded
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  Speaker 1: and at that moment trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: He's converted. Track his life, it's like tracking a bleeding
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  Speaker 1: rabbit across the snow. From that time until the end,
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  Speaker 1: he's a marked man. Not only do the people of
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  Speaker 1: Rome ultimately turn against him, his own people turn against him. Nevertheless,
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  Speaker 1: he presses on. He has by the time he writes
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  Speaker 1: two Timothy already written twelve letters if we exclude Hebrews,
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  Speaker 1: which he probably did not write, twelve letters that will
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  Speaker 1: ultimately find their way into the Canon of Sacred Scripture.
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  Speaker 1: This will be his thirteenth and last. He is by
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  Speaker 1: now in his mid sixties, probably about sixty seven sixty
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  Speaker 1: eight years of age. How do we know that, Well,
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  Speaker 1: let's do the math. If he is converted about the
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  Speaker 1: age of thirty two thirty three, he escapes to Arabia
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  Speaker 1: for three years, which brings him to thirty five thirty
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  Speaker 1: six years of age. He is in a sort of itinerant,
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  Speaker 1: evangelistic and apologetic work for about fourteen years, brings him
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  Speaker 1: to the age forty nine fifty. If he's engaged in
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  Speaker 1: mission work, traveling with Barnabas and then Silas, and often
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  Speaker 1: alone for about eighteen years. Then that brings us to
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  Speaker 1: about sixty seven sixty eight years of age. His bones
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  Speaker 1: had been broken, his body is scarred. He's endured shipwreck, stonings, mistreatment.
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  Speaker 1: He has gone through unfair arrests and trials, and this
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  Speaker 1: is his last and worst. Here is one of the
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  Speaker 1: greatest of all men, winding up in a prison under
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  Speaker 1: the streets of Rome in the Mamertine Dungeon. Two Timothy
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  Speaker 1: is dungeon talk. Never forget that you're reading words that
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  Speaker 1: were written under candlelight in this rat infested hole in
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  Speaker 1: the ground. Dark black stones surrounded him. And if you're
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  Speaker 1: ever in Rome, you owe it to yourself to visit
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  Speaker 1: the Mamartine Dungeon. Some guides don't even know where it is,
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  Speaker 1: but keep looking. Is worth a visit, and it's written
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  Speaker 1: to Timothy. Timothy. According to the Book of Acts, he
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  Speaker 1: is born in Lystra lystr A Listra. He is born
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  Speaker 1: a mixed parentage. His father is a Greek, his mother
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  Speaker 1: is a Jewish. Grandmother and mother believers who no doubt
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  Speaker 1: led him to a god fearing childhood, and certainly a
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  Speaker 1: Bible respecting childhood, as we will read in the letter.
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  Speaker 1: In those days they only had the Old Testament, and
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  Speaker 1: they no doubt unroll the scrolls and read them to him.
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  Speaker 1: He is a student of the scriptures. But it's not
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  Speaker 1: until he's about twenty years of age he meets an
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  Speaker 1: itinerant evangelist on a missionary journey named Paul, earlier named
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  Speaker 1: Saul of Tarsus, but now Paul the Apostle. Paul and
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  Speaker 1: Timothy link up, and they become joined at the hip.
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  Speaker 1: They become so close Timothy is known as Paul's son
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  Speaker 1: in the faith. Quite likely means he literally led him
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  Speaker 1: to Christ, or he certainly led him to a deeper
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  Speaker 1: walk with Christ. By now, Timothy is in his mid
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  Speaker 1: to late thirties. He is a pastor of a church
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  Speaker 1: in the city of Ephesus, in the country we know
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  Speaker 1: today as Turkey. He is relatively young, young in those
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  Speaker 1: days to be a pastor of a church, but he
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  Speaker 1: has been mentored by Paul. What is easy to forget
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  Speaker 1: is that, unlike Paul, he is a sickly man, prone
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  Speaker 1: to illness, tended to be introverted and shy because he's
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  Speaker 1: timid and reluctant in temperament. Paul frequently reminds him to
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  Speaker 1: stir up the gift, to step in to the fight,
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  Speaker 1: to stay at it, not to back off. And because
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  Speaker 1: he's frail in physique, Paul even says to him, take
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  Speaker 1: a little wine for your stomach sake, knowing that to
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  Speaker 1: have its medicinal value. He urges Timothy to drink a
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  Speaker 1: little wine which may help him with his stomach problems.
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  Speaker 1: Paul often exhorted Timothy in the area of his health
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  Speaker 1: and life and spiritual walk. Where was the writer at
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  Speaker 1: the time? Second Timothy has written, why is he so passionate? Well,
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  Speaker 1: the background information isn't pleasant to read. As we mentioned earlier,
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  Speaker 1: he is a prisoner awaiting death. If you'll look at
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  Speaker 1: chapter four, verses six and seven, you will see that
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  Speaker 1: Paul knew his future. He knew that his future would
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  Speaker 1: be brutal and swift, and soon he knew that there
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  Speaker 1: would be a beheading on the Austrian Way outside the
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  Speaker 1: city of Rome on the western side. And so he
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  Speaker 1: says to Timothy in verse six, Chapter four, I'm already
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  Speaker 1: being poured out as a drink offering, and the time
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  Speaker 1: of my departure has come. Those are nice words to describe.
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  Speaker 1: I'm close to death. It's only a matter of time.
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  Speaker 1: The boots are over my head. They're coming. The axe
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  Speaker 1: is in their hand. In fact, I have fought the
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  Speaker 1: good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept
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  Speaker 1: the faith. And henceforth there is laid up for me
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  Speaker 1: a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
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  Speaker 1: shall give me it that day, and not to me only,
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  Speaker 1: but unto all those who loves a period. So Paul
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  Speaker 1: is not afraid, so he writes Timothy. From this dark
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  Speaker 1: and dismal place. John Pollock, in an outstanding book titled
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  Speaker 1: The Man Who Shook the World, writes this Paul was seized, shackled,
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  Speaker 1: and this time placed in rigorous confinement in Rome, not
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  Speaker 1: as an honorable citizen, but chained like a criminal. He
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  Speaker 1: was among the felons in the Mambertine, or an equally
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  Speaker 1: obnoxious dungeon, reached only by rope or ladder, let down
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  Speaker 1: through a hole in the floor above. His weary body
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  Speaker 1: must rest on rough stones. The air was foul, sanitation
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  Speaker 1: almost nonexistent. Another adds it was a dank, dark, rat
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  Speaker 1: infested place. Paul was lonely and cold. He had seen
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: the face of Nero, hateful, sneering, weak, etched with all
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: the marks of disillusion and decay. Now he was waiting
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: to see the face of Jesus, beautiful beyond all thought.
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: That's what drove Paul to continue on to the very
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: last breath in his lungs. He writes like this. He's
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: passionate about it because time is short, heresies are on
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: the increase. He is dying. Timothy is to take the
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: torch from Paul and is to run with it, just
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: as Paul had on his journey from his conversion, all
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: the way to this moment near death. Timothy, I'm passing
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: the torch. You take it, don't drop it, you run
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: with it. All of this is motivating him to write
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: as he does. What you may not realize is life
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: for the Christian. By this time, around sixty seven sixty
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: eight eighty sixty seven sixty eight is at a low ebb.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: A madman is on the throne. His name is Nero.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: He dies of a suicide at age thirty one. He
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: takes the throne when he's only seventeen. The first part
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: of his reign is relatively smooth and mediocre. But it
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: isn't long before he loses his head. He loses all sensibility,
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: and he turns his hatred toward the Christians. Merrill ten
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: he writes of it in his fine work on New
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: Testament Times. Listen. The world of that era was ruled
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: by Rome, and the imperial ruler was none other than Nero,
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: the fifth in a long line of corrupt, vile, vicious
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: Roman emperors. Nero was only seventeen when he was presented
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: by the Praetorian Guard for imperial office. He engaged in
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: all manner of extravagances and capricious cruelty. Having exhausted the
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: imperial treasury by heedless expenditures, he looked for some method
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: of replenishing it. Heavy taxation followed, as well as the
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: confiscation of wealth and outright murder of the aristocracy. He
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: made life unbearable. Wealthy men lived in dread of the
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: emperor's displeasure. Men betrayed their best friends, perjured themselves, and
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: souped to infamy. To avert the emperor's hatred, Nero had
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: his own mother assassinated, poisoned others, murdered his first wife
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: and her sister, murdered his second wife, and was known
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: for keeping intimate company with young boys and engaging in
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: all manner of perverted and immoral acts. By age sixty four,
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: he was accused of setting fire to the city of Rome,
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: which destroyed half the city. He turned on Christians, claimed
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: they were responsible, which led to a mindless series of cruel,
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: torturous deaths. One can hardly imagine. Tacitus, who lived in
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: the days of Nero, writes this in his Annals, and
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: I quote speaking of the Christians. Their death was aggravated
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: with mockeries, insomuch that wrapped in hides of wild beasts,
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: they were torn to pieces by dogs or fastened to
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: crosses to be set on fire, that when the darkness fell,
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: they might be burned to illuminate the night. The city
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: became a circus filled with torture, debaucheries, and daily murders.
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: Having been declared a public enemy by the and It,
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: Nero died by his own hand at age thirty one.
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: The fire hit in sixty four. Paul writes in sixty seven,
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: can you imagine the crescendo of cruelty that has been occurring?
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: As he begins to write this letter to his friend Timothy,
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: and the kind of persecution Timothy will be facing. Can
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: you imagine. We sometimes think these times are hard, and
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: they are in their own way, but like that hardly
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: most of us cannot even name a martyr in the
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: twenty first century. It's quite likely you never lost a
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: family member because of her or his faith in Christ.
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: It was commonplace in that day for entire families to
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: be tortured, set a fire, murdered. Timothy, step up. This
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: is no time to fall back on your shy temperament.
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: Step into the fight, make a difference, be counted. See
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: what he says in verse seven of chapter one, Timothy,
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: a power of love of discipline. Therefore, do not be
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: Gospel according to the power of God. I'll tell you
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: if there's one thing needed in our twenty first century,
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: it's this kind of passion. And today it's needed more
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: than ever in our lifetime. People who will make a
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: difference for eternal causes. Cynthia and I were up in
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: the Washington, DC area last spring. We we were on
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: our way down to Williamsburg, where the where the conference
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: was going to be held. We were being driven by
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: a former high ranking officer in the United States Army.
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: As we're driving along, he and his wife and we
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: were talking. And as we talked, he noticed a large
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: building to the right had an enormous uh protrusion in
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: its in its architecture that kind of reaches out into
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: the into the sky. And I was attracted to it.
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: I said, that's a that's a beautiful building. He said, oh,
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: he said, you're a marine. He said, that's the Marine Memorial.
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: Would you like to visit? I go dub Yeah, I'd
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: like to go. So we drove over, stopped, walked in,
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: and immediately found ourselves in a rotunda. The rotunda is
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: filled with great quotations of heroic men, many of whom
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: gave their lives for the cause. It's not unlike the
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: Jefferson Memorial in the City of Washington, where you walk
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: around and you read the words around the memory. You've
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: been there, you know what I'm talking about. This is
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: like that, only it's larger. And we came across the
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: words of the late great President Ronald Reagan. In fact,
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: Cynthia Buck a little matto when I have it on
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: my desk at my study, it reads Reagan said, some
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: difference in this world. Marines don't have that problem. I
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: love that lie. Christians don't have that problem if they
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: carry themselves with the kind of passion Paul carried himself.
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: And I don't care what your age is. I don't
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: care if you're retired or deeply engaged in your work
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: or unemployed. I don't care what your age is, what
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: school you go to. I don't care what part of
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: the city you live in. Frankly, I don't care what
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: your status is. I only know you'll make a difference
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: if you take this message to heart, and you will
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: hear the words of a man in a dungeon who
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: will no longer be able to hit the road running
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: as he had spent his life doing. He's now come
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: to the end, and he knows that there's nothing like
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: a body of people to keep making a difference. And
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: so he says to Timothy as he writes the letter,
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: make a difference. Make a difference, young man. You have
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: far more years ahead of you than you have behind you.
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: Go for it, and I would say the same to
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: every one of you. Now, with that as an introduction,
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: please turn from the outline to the chart. Look at
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: the horizontal chart. For some of you, it's the first
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: time to see a book of the Bible laid out
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: in this manner. And I'm happy to introduce this method
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: to you, which was introduced to me by my mentor,
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: Howie Hendrix. During my years at Dallas Theological Seminary, we
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: learned to chart our way through the books of the Bible.
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: So I have spent this last week putting together my
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: own chart of the letter two Timothy. This came from
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: no one else. This is an original. That means it's
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: not inspired, it's mine. Okay, So you start reading. This
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: is like a literary map. It doesn't stop at all
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: the truck stops. It doesn't take you to all the vistas,
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: it doesn't go down all the little alleys. We'll go
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: there as we work our way through this letter. It
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: gives you an overview, an overview of a letter. When
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: I began ministry in Boston, one of the first things
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: I did, and one of the best things I did
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: was go up into the Prudential Building, all fifty stories
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: and walk around the top of that building. I don't
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: believe it's now the tallest, but at that time was
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: in the city. And as I walked around, I was
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: able to see Starro drive right along here. I saw
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: where the cape you go out in that area to
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: the cape. I saw Logan Airport, I saw Harvard, I
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: saw the back Bay area. I was able to see
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: the whole thing. As I walked around that building. It
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: was like a chart of the city of Boston. This
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: is like an overview of the letter of two Timothy.
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: You read it from the top, left hand side and across.
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: For example, the writer is Paul, the date is sixty seven.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: The purpose is to encourage, warn and exhort. Drop to
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: the bottom. We've covered this. The recipient is Timothy. Shortly
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: before Paul is beheaded. The uniqueness in Second Timothy I
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: found are four in number one. It's the only letter
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: Paul wrote from a dungeon. Two. There are specific details
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: about last day's apostasy not found anywhere else in the scriptures.
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: We'll see them when we work our way through tewod Timothy.
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: There is the clearest and most concise statement of the
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: inspiration of scripture in Tewod Timothy three sixteen by the way,
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: a novel for no extra charge, little novel thought. Every
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: time you run across three sixteen in the Bible, read it.
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: You'll find it interesting how often the three sixteens are
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: significant through the book. No, don't go now, some of
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: your stone to Genesis three sixteen right now, by the way,
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: three sixteen genes is interesting, but don't go there. Okay,
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: that's a clear and concise scripture on the inspiration of
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: scripture is verse sixteen of chapter three. The only time
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: the Crown of Righteousness has mentioned all the Bible has
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: mentioned Chapter four, which we just read a little bit ago,
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: and we'll read about that when we get to it.
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: Now the chart itself, look closely. Chapter one looks to
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: the past. He remembers Timothy's childhood, he remembers his his beginning,
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: and he takes him back to those days in the past,
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: and he calls to mind how he has been structure
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: and prepared to do what he's doing today. He looks
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: to the past, not all of it, but that seems
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: to be the emphasis. When you get to chapter two,
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: you move into the present, he looks at the way
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: things are. Not surprisingly, he addresses the hardship of his times.
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: In chapter three and four he looks to the future.
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: So we have the past chapter one, the present, chapter two,
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: the future chapters three and four. And throughout three and
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: four you will read the words will and shall, this
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: will occur, this will happen, these people will do this,
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: this shall take place. All of its future. We know
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: it now is past, but to Timothy it was all future.
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: So the last two chapters are future. The first chapter
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: is in a tone of gratitude, the second is in
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: a tone of compassion, the third is filled with warnings,
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: and the fourth filled with commands. He's exhorting Timothy, not
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: surprisingly because his own days are numbered. There are key
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: verses in each of the chapters, and I've included them
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: for you. And if you work through all of these
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: four chapters, you will see the kind of things we
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: spelled out here in sort of an outline form. Now
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: back to the outlined let's go through it quickly. We'll
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: be through about two o'clock, so you can relax. We'll
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: get it all underway. This is an overview of the letter,
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: so allow me simply to look at big sections of
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: it rather than get down into the nitty gritty of it.
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: We'll do that in the days ahead. Chapter one is
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: announcing guard the treasure. Exclamation point, by the way, all
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: the way through tewod Timothy, there could be exclamation points,
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: there aren't, because really there wasn't such in the Greek text.
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: But words are put out of order for the purpose
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: of emphasis. But all the way through second Timothy, there's passion,
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: there's exclamation points, there's reproof, there's rebuke, there's command. I mean, Timothy's,
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: my life is almost over. I gotta get this said,
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: who knows where they're gonna come get me? So he
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: writes with that kind of passion, and he begins by saying,
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: guard the treasure. Where do I get this? Look at
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: verse thirteen. Chapter one, Verse thirteen. Retain the standard of
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: sound words which you have heard from me in the
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Now look
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: closely guard through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: the treasure. So the outline beginning with chapter one starts
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: with guard the Treasure, Timothy. I'm not asking you to
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: change the words of the treasure. I'm not asking you
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: to take lightly the words of the treasure. Don't fuss
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: around with them. You guard them. When you bring your
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: money to the bank and you deposit your money at
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: the bank, you expect that bank to take that money
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: in the exact amount and to guard that money on
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: your behalf. It's put in a vault. They don't fuss
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: with it. They don't mess with it. They don't play
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: with it, they don't run loose with it. It's your money,
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: and it's a treasure, and it's to be guarded. Far
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: more important than monetary things is the truth of God. Timothy,
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: you have been given the truth of God, meaning sound words.
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: He calls it sound doctrine in chapter four. Take the
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: sound words to verse thirteen, the standard of sound words,
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: and hold on to this. It is the Apostolic faith.
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: Don't let it ever erode, don't compromise it, don't apologize
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: for it. Guard the treasure. That's chapter one. Chapter two.
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: Endure the hardship. Where do I get that? Look at
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: verse three of chapter two. Suffer hardship with me as
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: a good soldier. Now with that, by the way, when
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: you read your Bible, keep your head and gear. If
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: there's a word picture here. There's probably going to be
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: another one a little later on. I want to show
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: you six of them in chapter two. So get your
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: pen ready, wake your husband up, get your pen ready,
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: have him look along with you, or vice versa. And
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: let's mark these six words. Verse three. A good soldier.
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: Mark the word soldier. He's an illustration of hardship. In fact,
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: he says he doesn't get involved in everyday affairs of life.
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: He's doing the work of the war. So a soldier,
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: you're to be like a soldier. Look at verse five. Also,
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: if anyone competes as an athlete, mark that Paul loved
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: athletic references and hearing. He refers to competing according to
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: the rules, and you run to win the prize. So
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: the hard work an athlete, we'll look at that further
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: later on. Look at verse six, the hard working farmer.
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: There's a third word, another word picture market. God has
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: given us his word to guide us, and these are
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: clues along the way that help the word make sense
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: and come alive for us. So what we have here
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: is a soldier, an athlete, a farmer who plows the field,
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: plants the field, cultivates the crops, and ultimately harvests the crop.
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: It's the hard work of farming. Look at verse fifteen,
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: same chapter, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: as a workman. Mark that word number four. So we
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: have soldier, athlete, farmer, workman. This is a workman who
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: does not need to be ashamed because he's accurately handling
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: the word of truth. Look down at verse twenty one
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: you'll find the word vessel. That's word number five, another
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: word picture. If anyone cleanses himself from these things, he
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: the Master. It's the hard work of living a life
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: of purity. That's what his emphasis is there, which is
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: all a part of being a faithful spokesman for Christ.
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: And finally, verse twenty four, the Lord's servant must not
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: be quarrelsome, but kind to all, able to teach, patient
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: when wronged. So we have the hard working servant. You
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: get them all. We got a soldier, we've got an athlete,
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: we've got a farmer, we've got a workman, a vessel,
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: and we've got a bond servant. The chapter revolves around that,
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: all of which talks about living in days of hardship.
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: You take all six words and make them models for
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: your life. It'll turn your life around, but that'll come later.
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: Look at chapter three. Chapter three is an emphasis on
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: continuing the journey, Timothy. I'm not asking you to start
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: a whole new path. I'm not suggesting that there'll be
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: a creative work done and you find a whole new
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: theology in which the nope, nope, I've set the stage.
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: I've plowed the road. Now keep that road going, keep
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: the journey going. And where do I get that? Well,
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: look at the verse verse one. Realize this in the
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: last days, difficult times will come. See the word will.
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: That's future. They've already come in our day, but they
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: will come. Look at the next verse. Man will be
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: lovers of self, lovers of money, et cetera, et cetera.
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: He goes on and he talks about these times in
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: which they're living Verse ten. Now, Timothy, you followed my
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: teaching conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecution, suffering, and
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: the names where all that happened. Indeed, all who live
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: godly in Christ will be persecuted. Verse twelve, Verse fourteen.
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: Here's where we get it. You However, continue in the
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: things you have learned and become convinced of Timothy. You're
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: going to be surrounded by all kinds of people, all
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: kinds of preachers, all kinds of mine models, all kinds
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: of churches. You're gonna watch erosion, erosion, erosion. You're gonna
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: see games being played. You're gonna see nonsense going on.
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: You're gonna see theological sound bites thrown out. You're gonna
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: see all kinds of things that, Timothy, don't go there.
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: You continue in the path I have started, and I'm
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: giving you the baton in this relay. You run with it. Timothy,
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: that's chapter three. When you get to chapter four, it
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: isn't hard. Here, watch closely. I solemnly charge you in
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: to judge the living and the dead. Verse two, Preach
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: the word. The word preach is k ROCs. K Rocks
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: is the is the whole idea of making a proclamation.
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: Krook's on time log on. It is the statement, and
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: it's the whole idea of proclaiming the word. Preach the truth, Timothy,
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: that's your task. When others refuse sound doctrine. You preach
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: it when others want to tickle ears. You preach the
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: truth when churches call leaders who will entertain them and
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: make them feel good. You preach the truth when many
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: will prefer myths and having their ears tickled. And that's
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: not my word, that's God's word. Verse three. The time
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: will come, see the future will come when they will
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: not endure sound doctrine. But what will they want? Well,
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: they want to have guys that will tickle their ears
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: and accumulate teachers in accardes to their own desires, and
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: will turn away their ears from the truth, and will
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: turn aside to myths. And that's exactly what has happened
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: in our day. Paul's words are as relevant as they
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: are true. In other words, they'll want to be told
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: what they want to hear. Don't go there, Timothy, make
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: a difference, cut up, cut a swath that will touch lives.
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: Don't back off, don't hold back, stay at it. And
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: during the process of time, by the way, you may
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: lose friends. Verse ten, he names a friend he's lost.
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: Demus has loved this present world, and he's deserted me.
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: Verse fourteen. One of my favorites good old Alexander the
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: coppersmith did me much harm. The Lord will repay him
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: according to his needs. Be on guard against him. Isn't
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: that great? Don't pat him on the head and say
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: that's fine. It's okay, Alexander. Everybody's entitled to his own opinion.
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: It's okay, buddy, I understand you have your opinion. I
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: have mine. Guard against him, he said, guard against him.
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: You know what happens when you guard against him, you
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: lose him as a friend. So whose friendship do you want?
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: This tough stuff, folks. This isn't how to be popular.
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: This isn't how to get voted into office, just how
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: to become a messenger of the truth. Now does it
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: look like Paul is sort of a steal unmoved, a
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: robot who cares nothing about people. The whole latter half
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: of the fourth chapter is filled with people's names, most
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: of whom he loves them dearly. He misses them. Only
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: Luke is with him, so he says to Timothy verse nine,
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: make every effort to come to be soon. He's a
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: very real guy. He's lonely. He's tired of eating rats.
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: He's tired of the roaches. The vermin. He's cold. Fact,
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: he even says to him to bring his cloak so
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: he can be warm. Bring the books and the parchment.
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: He's got study to do. To love that about Paul.
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: Look at verse twenty one, make every effort to come
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: before winter. You talk about emotion. Don't drag your feet,
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: young man. I need you. We do need each other.
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: Even those who stand strong need others to be their advocates.
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: Never doubt that. So how is this personal to us?
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: We're not in a dungeon, thank the Lord, not yet.
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: We're not being silenced, not yet. Our family isn't being killed,
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: our business is being closed because we're Christians? Yet, So
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: how do we apply all of this right? Quick? Number one,
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: there's still a treasure to guard. There's still a treasure
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: to guard. Guard it diligently, and don't lose your grip.
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: You teach a class in the scriptures, don't lose your
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: grip on the scriptures. You're involved in Bible study fellowship,
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: Teach the study of the scriptures. Encourage those people in
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: your class to learn with you. You're in a men's group,
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: learn with them. Guard the treasure. Don't lose your grip.
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: Stand for the truth. For all you know, you're the
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: only source of truth. Those people in your class is
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: getting teach it, modeled it, communicate it. Guard the treasure.
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: There's still a treasure to guard. Second, there's still hardship
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: to endure. There's still hardship to endure. So endure it patiently.
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: Don't run scared, don't look for a place to hide out.
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: Stay at it, Stay at the hardship. Third, there is
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: still a journey to continue, so continue it faithfully and
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: don't get sidetracked. Continue the journey. I took the torch
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: from men older than I, and when I was ordained,
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: I agreed that I would stand with them. Most of
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: them have died. I press on and I hand the
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: torch to younger men. Today they take the torch when
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: I'm out of the picture, they carry it on from there.
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: It's all a part of the process of multiplication. One
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: person building into another, who builds into another and yet another.
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: We start with children, we go all the way to seniors.
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: It's all part of the process of this relay. We're
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: running together. Fourth, there's still truth to proclaim. Every one
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: of you is in a sphere of influence that I
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: will never be in you're in your family, which is
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: not my family. You can touch your family where I
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: can't reach them. You're in a neighborhood I don't live in.
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: You can reach your neighborhood that I can't reach because
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: I'm not there. You're there. You're in a business that
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: I'm not in a part of You could touch the
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: people in your business worldling group, and you're able to
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: impact those people. You're at a school. You've got students
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: that are not my students. They're your students, they're your
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: fellow students. Some of you are teachers. I don't teach
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: your class. You teach it. What a marvelous opportunity to
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: proclaim the truth, to share the savior. You know what?
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: I think it's a kind of a Maverick thought, But
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: I'm full of them, I think with Paul laid his
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: head down to having severed from his neck. He looked
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: up at the executioner and said, do you know Christ
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: does your personal lord and say your punk last words?
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: Why not? What a great way to die? What are
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: going to be? What are your dying words? I told
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: you I was sick, told you the medicine wasn't going
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: to work. You know what? Concerns me about this generation.
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: We have gotten soft. We're quick to feel sorry for ourselves.
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: We're the most narcissistic generation that's ever existed. We lazily
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: think someone else will carry the load. There's a spirit
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: of entitlement wrapped around many A young mind today, and
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: maybe not just young and older would say, well, I've
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: carried it long enough. It's somebody else's job to carry it.
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: It's never someone else's job. I just said that. Name
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: five people you know who regularly sacrifice time, money, interest, effort, energy.
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: Show me a half dozen in their seventies who are
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: counting for Christ every day of their lives, rather than
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: talking about their ailments. Are their years of retirement? Please,
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: nothing wrong with retirement, Just don't retire from eternal things.
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: Paul went strong to the end, all the way to
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: the blade of the axe that is enduring hardship. Step up,
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: men and women, step into the fight. Don't be afraid.
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: Don't look for a way to hide or to protect yourself.
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: Get your neck out there. There are folks dying without Christ,
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: and they won't hear in your sphere of influence unless
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: you let them know about him. I close with this
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: true story Sathy and I got a message this week
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: from a friend who lives up in Washington, d C. Listen,
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: I read it verbatim. I just returned from Walter Reid,
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: where I visited Lieutenant Colonel Tim Karcher US Army. Tim
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: lost both legs in an attack specific targeting him in
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: Iraq a couple of days ago. Tim and his wife
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: Alicia were led to christ by Colonel Franklin and Rachel Childress.
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: Colonel Franklin escorted him on the METOVAC flight from Germany
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: last night. In fact, when I got to Walter read
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: this morning and pushed the button for the elevator. The
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: doors opened and there was Colonel Franklin. Tim was in
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: good spirits and encouraged Franklin and me. This is the
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: fourth tour for Tim in Iraq and the third time
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: he was seriously injured in combat. I met his wife,
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: Alicia also this morning. What a trooper. They also have
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: three girls back in Ford Hood, Texas. The news is
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: too busy to notice Tim Cartcher, but this guy has
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: all the right stuff. Please pray that his kidneys begin
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: to function again. Many surgeries are in his future. He
• 58:08
  Speaker 1: can't wait to return to his men. That is leadership,
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: that is passion. Give me a body of men and
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: women with that kind of passion, and this city is evangelized,
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: this state. Here's the message of Christ, clearly and fully.
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: We will become the most politically incorrect body in the
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: entire nation. And I will love it. I will love it.
• 58:59
  Speaker 1: Let's about again. I don't know where all of this
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: finds you, but somewhere in the mix, in the middle
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: of this dungeon, you have found yourself. And maybe the
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: picture isn't very pretty, maybe if you're sort of kicked back. Hey,
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: it's a lazy, hazy summer. What can I say? There
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: is no season for those who love the Savior. Oh,
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: there is time we need to take off. There are
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: occasions we need to recharge, of course, But I mean
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: in the warp and woof of life. God wants us
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: on our feet, engaged in the battle, and we are
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: the ones who will get the job done. He has
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: deposited his truth in your heart. Let's be sure it
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: makes a difference in the way you live this week.
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: And I give you my word. I will not forget
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: these words either. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for truth to
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 1: live by. Thank you for preserving the etchings of one
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: man on a yellow piece of parchment in a stone
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: dungeon during those dark days and nights under candlelight. Thank
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: you for his model. Thank you for this godly man who,
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: losing his life, would exhort a younger colleague to do
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: what he had been doing for years. May we take
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: the torch. May we run hard, May we run well.
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 1: May we be found faithful, passionate, committed, engaged for the
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: cause of Christ till he returns. May we imbibe that
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: same contagion as we live in a world that has
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: lost its way. Set us ablaze our Father with fresh enthusiasm,
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: words of encouragement, acts of love, and maybe make a
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: difference in the places we frequent and the lies we touch.
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 1: In the name of Jesus, our matchless Savior, whom they crucified,
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 1: whom you raise from the dead and live forever. In
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 1: his name, we pray, everybody said Amen.
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 2: The preceding message, Urgent Words from a Dungeon, was copyrighted
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 2: in two thousand and nine and twenty fifteen, and the
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 2: sound recording was copyrighted in twenty fifteen by Charles R. Swindall, Inc.
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 2: commercial use is strict prohibited.