Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Shackled, Deserted, but Still Undaunted │ Msg 2222 (1)

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Shackled, Deserted, but Still Undaunted │ Msg 2222 (1) · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: It was the prophet Isaiah who said, as the rains
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  Speaker 1: come down and the snow from heaven and return not,
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  Speaker 1: but water the earth and make it bring forth and
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  Speaker 1: bud that it may give seed to the sower and
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  Speaker 1: bread to the eater. So shall my word be, which
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  Speaker 1: goes forth out of my mouth. It shall never, never
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  Speaker 1: return void. That is empty of purpose, but it shall
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  Speaker 1: accomplish that for which I have sent it. It's a
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  Speaker 1: great promise every time we open the Word of God
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  Speaker 1: to know that it will never return empty. It will
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  Speaker 1: accomplish the purpose for which it was given. Please turn,
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  Speaker 1: if you will, to several sections of 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy.
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  Speaker 1: As we conclude our study in the life and times
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  Speaker 1: of Paul, which has been quite a searching study, to
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  Speaker 1: say the least. We come to the very moving final
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  Speaker 1: words that he wrote, and we'll learn about where he
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  Speaker 1: wrote them in a few moments, and something of what
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  Speaker 1: he said to his friend Timothy. Let me read several
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  Speaker 1: sections of 2 Timothy, beginning in chapter one, verse one. Paul,
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  Speaker 1: an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
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  Speaker 1: according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus, to Timothy,
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  Speaker 1: my beloved son, grace, mercy, and peace from God the
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  Speaker 1: Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God whom
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  Speaker 1: I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers
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  Speaker 1: did as I constantly remember you in my prayers night
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  Speaker 1: and day, longing to see you even as I recall
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  Speaker 1: your tears so that I may be filled with joy.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 15, same chapter. You are aware of the fact
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  Speaker 1: that all who are in Asia turned away from me,
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  Speaker 1: among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. The Lord grant mercy
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  Speaker 1: to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me
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  Speaker 1: and was not ashamed of my chains. But when he
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  Speaker 1: was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord grant to him to find mercy from the
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  Speaker 1: Lord on that day And you know very well what
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  Speaker 1: services he rendered at Ephesus. You, therefore, my son, be
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  Speaker 1: strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The
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  Speaker 1: things which you have heard from me in the presence
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  Speaker 1: of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will
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  Speaker 1: be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me.
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  Speaker 1: as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in
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  Speaker 1: active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life
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  Speaker 1: so that he may please the one who enlisted him
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  Speaker 1: as a soldier. Chapter three, verse one, but realize this,
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  Speaker 1: that in the last days, difficult times will come. For
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  Speaker 1: men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers,
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  Speaker 1: disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal,
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  Speaker 1: haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather
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  Speaker 1: than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness,
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  Speaker 1: although they have denied its power. Avoid such men as these.
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  Speaker 1: And finally, the first five verses of chapter four. I
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  Speaker 1: solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of
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  Speaker 1: Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead,
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  Speaker 1: and by his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word.
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  Speaker 1: Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke,
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  Speaker 1: exhort with great patience and instruction. For the time will
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  Speaker 1: come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting
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  Speaker 1: to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves
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  Speaker 1: teachers in accordance to their own desires and will turn
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  Speaker 1: away their ears from the truth and will turn aside
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  Speaker 1: to myths. But you be sober in all things, endure hardship,
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  Speaker 1: do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. What
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  Speaker 1: a privilege it is, our Father, to have this Bible
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  Speaker 1: open in our lap, written in our own language, carefully
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  Speaker 1: and professionally bound in a book that we can carry
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  Speaker 1: with us. How easy to forget that there are bloodstains
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  Speaker 1: across time from those who gave their lives for its truths.
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  Speaker 1: Martyrs in every generation, all the way back and beyond
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  Speaker 1: the first generation. What a pleasure it has been to
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  Speaker 1: study the life of one of them. How easy it
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  Speaker 1: is for us in a comfortable place like this, with
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  Speaker 1: plenty of food in our refrigerators, food left over in
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  Speaker 1: restaurants where we eat, plenty of our needs met, in fact,
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  Speaker 1: most of them, to imagine life as it must have
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  Speaker 1: been lived in a dungeon. As this man took up
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  Speaker 1: his final stylus to write words to his friend, Timothy.
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  Speaker 1: It's good for us, our Father, to be exposed to
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  Speaker 1: such truth. It's good for us to move to a
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  Speaker 1: period not our own, in a place where most of
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  Speaker 1: us will never be, to imagine life as it was,
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  Speaker 1: and to glean the application of these things written to
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  Speaker 1: one man but meant for the whole world. Help us
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  Speaker 1: this day, our Father, on the heels of a wonderful holiday,
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  Speaker 1: to listen unusually well to the proclamation of the truth.
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  Speaker 1: Guide my lips, guard me from exaggeration or inaccuracy, so
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  Speaker 1: that truth might be spoken and truth might be applied.
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  Speaker 1: Some come today with very heavy hearts, dragging with them
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  Speaker 1: the anchors of a life marked by compromise, failure, sin,
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  Speaker 1: habits that still go on. Thank you for your compassion
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  Speaker 1: that is new every morning, for your love and your mercy.
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  Speaker 1: And most of all, with that in mind, thank you
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  Speaker 1: for your forgiveness. Thank you for the hope there is
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  Speaker 1: in the thought that it is never too late to
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  Speaker 1: start doing what is right. Help those who come today
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  Speaker 1: doing wrong to leave with clear consciences, forgiven hearts, that
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  Speaker 1: they might do right. Thank you for power that's beside
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  Speaker 1: our own power, that's outside our own strength. to endure
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  Speaker 1: conflict and hardship, not the least of which is standing
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  Speaker 1: as we should in a world that's lost its way.
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  Speaker 1: Without being freaks, without becoming extremists, without losing control on balance, kindness,
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  Speaker 1: and grace, may we live, our Father, according to another drumbeat,
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  Speaker 1: lest the world around us squeeze us into its mold
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  Speaker 1: Help us to have a good filtering system so that
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  Speaker 1: we are able to discern truth from error. Without being
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  Speaker 1: witch hunters, may we discern where there is in fact
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  Speaker 1: evil present. And may we do battle against it through
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  Speaker 1: the power of your spirit. There are some attending schools
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  Speaker 1: where it is difficult to live for Christ. I pray
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  Speaker 1: for them today. I pray that you would help them,
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  Speaker 1: students and faculty alike, that their lives may reflect your standard,
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  Speaker 1: that their lives may be modeling your truths. I pray
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  Speaker 1: for homemakers today who are about the home doing the
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  Speaker 1: work that is so vital in this world. I pray
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  Speaker 1: that you would lift them That you would elevate their
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  Speaker 1: sense of dignity and significance. That you would remind them
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  Speaker 1: of their investment and the importance of their lives. Thank
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  Speaker 1: you for those who earn living in difficult places. Where
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  Speaker 1: the demands are heavy. The requirements severe. I pray that
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  Speaker 1: you would help them. To do well in the pressure.
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  Speaker 1: That you would sustain them. Carefully. I pray for those
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  Speaker 1: men and women who serve in the military today and
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  Speaker 1: for the families of such. I pray that you would
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  Speaker 1: give a special amount of comfort and encouragement. Thank you
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  Speaker 1: for the news we hear that this phase of the
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  Speaker 1: war seems to have been accomplished. Now give us patience,
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  Speaker 1: give us strength, give us discernment as we proceed in
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  Speaker 1: areas where it must be dealt with. We pray as
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  Speaker 1: well for those who command these troops, for those in
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  Speaker 1: the Joint Chiefs of Staff where decisions are made causing
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  Speaker 1: ships to move into areas and troops to maneuver in
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  Speaker 1: areas of harm's way. I pray for those who serve
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  Speaker 1: alongside the President and in the shadows and the wings
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  Speaker 1: of the Oval Office that you would give them discernment, care, guidance, wisdom,
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  Speaker 1: that they might give the right words to those who
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  Speaker 1: are in the place of making the best decisions. Thank
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  Speaker 1: you for our church, for these core values that have
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  Speaker 1: become increasingly more important to us as our history is
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  Speaker 1: turning now from months into years. I pray that we
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  Speaker 1: will be careful to model these things that we have written.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you today for the holiday we have recently enjoyed,
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  Speaker 1: for the giving of thanks for our many blessings. Now,
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  Speaker 1: our Father, we thank you for the privilege, the honor
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  Speaker 1: of giving to your work. I pray that you will
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  Speaker 1: be pleased in the motive behind the gift as well
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  Speaker 1: as the gift itself, that you would sustain this work
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  Speaker 1: for your greater glory. because of the devotion of these
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  Speaker 1: who give joyfully and generously. And may this final visit
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  Speaker 1: in the life of Paul touch us deeply so that
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  Speaker 1: we do not remain the same. Change our hearts, O God.
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  Speaker 1: Make us ever new. Mold us into ones like Christ.
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  Speaker 1: even as Paul lived his life. Now this time of worship, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: is yours, and we quietly sit before you as we
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  Speaker 1: ponder our lives and prepare ourselves for the proclamation of
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  Speaker 1: the word. In Jesus' blessed name we pray, and everyone sit.
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  Speaker 1: Most who travel to Rome miss the most important site.
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  Speaker 1: Certainly those who are Christians who don't know where to
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  Speaker 1: find it will be disappointed when they have left and
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  Speaker 1: hadn't visited it. But you have to understand the place
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  Speaker 1: is not in any of the tourist brochures. There are
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  Speaker 1: no original works of art that hang in a gallery
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  Speaker 1: in the place. sculptured statues that are there to make
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  Speaker 1: it beautiful. In fact, it isn't beautiful at all. It's
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  Speaker 1: not only unattractive, there's a stench down there. It smells
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  Speaker 1: of time and sweat and blood. The stones are black
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  Speaker 1: with age and not many can get in there. It's
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  Speaker 1: too small. But it's there, nevertheless, that rock-walled dungeon where
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  Speaker 1: Paul spent his last hours and in which he wrote
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  Speaker 1: the letter that today we know as Second Timothy. Hans Fensel,
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  Speaker 1: in his fine book, Empowered Leaders, writes of the dungeon
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  Speaker 1: in the Mamertine prison in these words. Any visitor to
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  Speaker 1: Rome learns immediately that St. Peter's Church is at the
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  Speaker 1: center of the city's attraction. Like magnets, the Vatican, St.
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  Speaker 1: Peter's Basilica, and the beautiful museums that surround it draw
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  Speaker 1: millions to the ancient city each year. Fensel says, I
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  Speaker 1: visited Vatican Square, toured St. Peter's Cathedral, and spent half
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  Speaker 1: a day in the Vatican Museum. I was especially impressed
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  Speaker 1: with the works of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. However,
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  Speaker 1: what inspired me most about my visit to Rome happened
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  Speaker 1: after I left those great buildings and that rich history.
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  Speaker 1: As impressive as they are, there was something more special
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  Speaker 1: in store. On an obscure side street, a few kilometers
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  Speaker 1: from the Vatican, there is a small building thought to
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  Speaker 1: house the prison cell where Paul spent his final days.
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  Speaker 1: Whether it is actually his prison cell or not is,
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  Speaker 1: of course, debatable. We climbed down into this cramped hole
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  Speaker 1: beneath the ground and spent about half an hour in
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  Speaker 1: the dark cell. It was cold, damp, and musty. A
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  Speaker 1: small grate in the ceiling allowed a little daylight to
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  Speaker 1: shine through. Historians agree that Paul probably lost his life
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  Speaker 1: around AD 67 when Nero ruled. As I sat on
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  Speaker 1: that cold stone floor, I imagined what it must have
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  Speaker 1: been like for Paul in those last days if this
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  Speaker 1: wasn't the exact room it had to be one just
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  Speaker 1: like it. What a way to spend your final weeks.
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  Speaker 1: As we stood in the cell and talked, drinking in
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  Speaker 1: the story that the Stones could tell if they spoke,
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  Speaker 1: we noticed that only a few visitors climbed down into
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  Speaker 1: the cell with us. This was in stark contrast to
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  Speaker 1: the thousands who waited in line to enter the Vatican
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  Speaker 1: Museum not far away. The streets above were filled with
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  Speaker 1: tourists who were flocking to St. Peter's Cathedral. But only
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  Speaker 1: occasionally did someone stop long enough even to peer through
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  Speaker 1: the grate down into the cell. I thought to myself,
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  Speaker 1: here is where the man who wrote the greatest portion
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  Speaker 1: of the New Testament spent his last days. The greatest
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  Speaker 1: missionary and church planter of the first century died here.
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  Speaker 1: Wouldn't more people want to feel what it was like
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  Speaker 1: for him? Obviously, the answer is no. Most people visiting
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  Speaker 1: Rome today do not list Paul's cell as one of
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  Speaker 1: their top 10 tourist sites. But for me, it ranked
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  Speaker 1: as the number one spot in Rome. To give the
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  Speaker 1: tourists the benefit of the doubt, they probably don't even
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  Speaker 1: know it's there. There are no big signs. no concession stands,
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  Speaker 1: no neon flashing notices that let you know with arrows
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  Speaker 1: pointing where you would find the dungeon of the old
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  Speaker 1: Mamertine prison. But it's there nevertheless. Paul could have set
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  Speaker 1: for a portrait of Isaac Watt's words penned not quite
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  Speaker 1: 17 centuries later. Must I be carried to the skies
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  Speaker 1: on flowery beds of ease while others fought to win
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  Speaker 1: the prize and sailed through bloody seas? Sure, I must
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  Speaker 1: fight if I would reign. Increase my courage, Lord, I'll
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  Speaker 1: bear the toil, endure the pain supported by thy word.
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  Speaker 1: It was in that stone dungeon Paul spent his final days.
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  Speaker 1: It was there. We're not sure whether he was put
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  Speaker 1: there after the trial before Nero or during the trial
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  Speaker 1: before Nero, but we do know this, that as a
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  Speaker 1: result of the trial, in one of the Roman barracks,
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  Speaker 1: if you listen closely, you could hear the grinding on
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  Speaker 1: an axe that would be carried by the executioner who
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  Speaker 1: would in a swift moment, only hours after the decision
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  Speaker 1: made by the emperor, would be swung and remove his
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  Speaker 1: head from his shoulders. Paul, the greatest missionary who ever lived,
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  Speaker 1: That would be how he would die. Every time I
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  Speaker 1: open the letter we know today as 2 Timothy, I
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  Speaker 1: often think to myself, much of this is dungeon talk.
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  Speaker 1: This is dungeon talk. And when I remember that, it
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  Speaker 1: helps me understand why there is such passion and at
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  Speaker 1: the same time such tenderness. The dungeon is dark and
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  Speaker 1: it is damp and it is cold and he is
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  Speaker 1: shackled and he has been deserted. But remember from our
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  Speaker 1: last study, Paul lived above his circumstances. There is not
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  Speaker 1: one hint of self-pity. No blame. No bitterness. No, if
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  Speaker 1: I had it all to do over again, I wouldn't have.
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  Speaker 1: There's none of the regret. He writes straightforwardly to a
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  Speaker 1: man who will carry the torch beyond his years on
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  Speaker 1: this earth. And he writes with the kind of wisdom
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  Speaker 1: and discernment that your father may have used with you
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  Speaker 1: before he died, or your mentor, or a close friend.
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  Speaker 1: I like it too that the apostle is not living
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  Speaker 1: in denial. I took the time last night, as recently
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  Speaker 1: as last night, to read the letter again, and I've
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  Speaker 1: found no less than five specific references to his suffering
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  Speaker 1: in the prison. He's not denying that the suffering was
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  Speaker 1: going on. He's simply living above it. Charles Erdman, in
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  Speaker 1: a little volume on the pastorals, writes, possibly no other
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  Speaker 1: of the New Testament letters makes so tender and so
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  Speaker 1: pathetic an appeal. Every paragraph is suffused with emotion. Every
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  Speaker 1: sentence throbs with the pulse beats. of a human heart. Paul,
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  Speaker 1: the dauntless missionary hero, the founder of the church in
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  Speaker 1: Asia Minor and in Europe, is now an aged prisoner
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  Speaker 1: in Rome, suffering, deserted, despised, condemned, and soon to be
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  Speaker 1: led forth to a cruel death. Since you will probably
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  Speaker 1: never visit the Mamertine prison, just imagine in your mind
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  Speaker 1: an old man crippled from the tortures of the past,
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  Speaker 1: scarred from the beatings and the stonings and the shipwrecks.
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  Speaker 1: Hair and beard white as bone, sitting sort of curled
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  Speaker 1: up under the light from the grate, working over one
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  Speaker 1: final piece that he would later fold quickly and press
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  Speaker 1: into the hands of Dr. Luke who would see that
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  Speaker 1: it would find its way to Ephesus if Timothy never
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  Speaker 1: made it to Paul's side, as he had hoped he would.
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  Speaker 1: Relive in your mind what life must have been like
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  Speaker 1: those final hours, and the letter will mean more to you.
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  Speaker 1: For sure, according to chapter 4 and verse 6, to
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  Speaker 1: which I'd like to have you turn, the end has come.
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  Speaker 1: There is no dodging or escaping it. Chapter four of
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  Speaker 1: second Timothy verse six states, I am already being poured
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  Speaker 1: out as a drink offering and the time of my
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  Speaker 1: departure has come. Charles Rowery writes in the notes of
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  Speaker 1: his Bible, Paul knew that this time he would not
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  Speaker 1: be freed and that is true. There will be no
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  Speaker 1: trip to Spain. There will not be another voyage across
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  Speaker 1: the Mediterranean. There would not be another visit to a
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  Speaker 1: church that's been founded or to a place where they've
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  Speaker 1: never heard the gospel, not by Paul. His life is
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  Speaker 1: being poured out as a drink offering and the time
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  Speaker 1: of his departure has come. Imagine that. Imagine what it
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  Speaker 1: would have been like knowing that you will be beheaded
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  Speaker 1: by an uncaring Roman soldier who will do the same
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  Speaker 1: to another prisoner tomorrow as he did yesterday. Imagine what
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  Speaker 1: it is like knowing that the kick of the clock
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  Speaker 1: just brings you one moment closer to your last breath
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  Speaker 1: on this earth. And then try to imagine what you
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  Speaker 1: would write, especially if your conditions where you will be
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  Speaker 1: are as miserable as where he was. He's lonely. Look
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  Speaker 1: at verse 9 of this fourth chapter. Make every effort
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  Speaker 1: to come to me soon. If you've spent your life,
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  Speaker 1: over 60 years of it, and if you have built
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  Speaker 1: a relationship with someone else that has been close and endearing,
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  Speaker 1: when you come to your last hours, you long for
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  Speaker 1: that person. In fact, so longing was he for Timothy,
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  Speaker 1: he says in verse 21, not only make every effort,
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  Speaker 1: but make every effort to come before winter. Isn't there
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  Speaker 1: emotion in those words? The leaves of fall are blowing
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  Speaker 1: across the streets of Rome. The trees are becoming bare.
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  Speaker 1: The icy winds of the north are blowing down across Italy.
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  Speaker 1: And before long, snow will cover the flat carts on
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  Speaker 1: the street. Over the cobblestones I will hear the horses
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  Speaker 1: as they slip a bit on the ice. Come before winter, Timothy.
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  Speaker 1: Come before winter. We don't know if Timothy made it
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  Speaker 1: before winter. We know that Paul was virtually alone except
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  Speaker 1: for Luke who was with him. Verse 10 tells us
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  Speaker 1: that Demas had forsaken him. Having loved this present world,
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  Speaker 1: he deserted Paul. The details of that are left for
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  Speaker 1: preacher's imaginations. We'll not go there. The point is, he
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  Speaker 1: doesn't have Demas, whom he once had. Crescens has gone
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  Speaker 1: to Galatia, and Titus has left for Dalmatia. Only Luke
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  Speaker 1: is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, Timothy.
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  Speaker 1: When you come, bring along John Mark. Antiochus, verse 12,
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  Speaker 1: I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the
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  Speaker 1: cloak I left at Troas. Probably he was captured in
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  Speaker 1: Troas for this last arrest. And he was taken so
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  Speaker 1: quickly he didn't even have time to reach back and
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: get his cloak. The one that bore the smell of
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: the brine from the Mediterranean. The one that still had
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: the bloodstains from the stoning at Lystra. The cloak. Something
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: to keep warm. Bring the cloak. And while you're bringing things,
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: bring the books. Sounds like in our family, when someone
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: gets up to get something at a meal, we always say,
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: while you're up, while you're up, would you bring? While
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: I'm making the list here, Timothy, would you not only
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: bring the cloak, would you also bring the books? This
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: guy's getting ready to die and he still wants to study.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: That's what I call a faithful student. He still wants
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: to read. I think he's a little bored, if you will.
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: There are still things to learn. Years later, Tyndale made
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: a similar request when he was dying in a cell.
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: Perhaps took his words from Paul's words to Timothy as
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: he requested a cloak and books to study, especially the
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: Hebrew and the Greek texts, asked Tyndale. when he was
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: in that cell. Oh, but he said, especially bring the parchments.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: These would be Paul's own scrolls of the Old Testament.
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: Don't miss that. I need to spend time in the
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: word of God, especially since I know that the end
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: is coming. You know, I take the time here in
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: this fourth chapter not only because we all need the reminder,
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: but I think it helps set the stage for the
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: whole letter. He's deserted, he's shackled, but he is undaunted.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: Here is a man who was strong to the very end,
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: but he doesn't write without feelings, deep, deep feelings. Allow
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: me to do just a little survey, sort of a
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: safari through the letter, if I may do that, beginning
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: in chapter 1. Let me unfold for you how this
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: scroll must have originally unrolled as Timothy read it and
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: went through it. Paul writes him as his beloved son,
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: verse 2, that's how close they were, Remember Timothy came
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: during that second journey where they met and Timothy had
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: had a heart for God, and Paul noticed it and
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: asked if he would travel with him. And Timothy, though
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: a very young man at the time, probably in his
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: late teenage years, certainly not more than early 20s, joined
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: the band and went with Luke along with Paul and
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: traveled and became for Paul a soul brother, one whose
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: heart was so like his own. A kindred spirit was
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: Timothy to Paul. So he calls him my beloved son,
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: and he offers the same greeting that is commonly offered
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: in first century writing among Christians, mercy and grace and
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: our Lord. Why am I here? No, he doesn't start
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: like that. He says, I thank God whom I serve
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did as
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: Isn't that great? There is none of the bitterness that
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: you might expect from a man who's getting what he
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: doesn't deserve. He says, I'm thanking God that our relationship
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: is so close that you come to mind day and night,
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: and I pray for you, longing to see you as
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: I recall your tears so that I may be filled
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: with joy. Paul adds, I am mindful of the sincere
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: faith within you, Timothy, which first dwelt in your grandmother
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: it is in you as well. The benefits of godly roots,
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: the older I get, the more I appreciate them. Paul
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: looks back over time and remembers not only Timothy as
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: a younger man, but he remembered his mother. And he
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: remembered his grandmother. John Calvin adds a wonderful word. Timothy
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: was reared in his infancy in such a way that
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: he could suck in godliness along with his mother's milk.
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: As she held him to her breast, as she rocked
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: him in the chair, as she sung him to sleep
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: in the crib, as she reared him in his earliest years,
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: Eunice poured the truth into the ears of her son, Timothy.
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: His blood, to use Spurgeon's words, was bibline. The truth
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: of scripture was coursing through his veins long before he
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: met Paul. And it was that that attracted Paul to
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: him and said, you travel with me. Here's a kindred spirit.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: Now they've come full cycle. Paul is unwebbing the last
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: few hours of his life and he's reflecting back to
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: those earlier days. And he said, for this reason I
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: remind you, verse six, kindle afresh the gift of God
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: which is in you. Verse seven, for God has not
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: of love and of discipline. Here he is already exhorting
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: a son, dads do that. As soon as you have
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: a chance, you just lay another truth on them and
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: you hope they don't forget that. So you repeat that
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: and you say it again until the kids roll their eyes.
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: Heard this before. Here we go. Here we go again.
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: I'm sure Timothy has heard Paul say this, but now
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: he reads it with new eyes because it's coming from
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: the hands of a man shaking in sickness soon to
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: be cold in death. So he admonishes him to not
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: to be timid. Don't be fearful. Verse eight, don't be
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me,
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: his prisoner. This is the first of the five references
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: to his being a prisoner. Join me in suffering for
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: the gospel according to the power of God. Verse 13,
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: don't be careless with the truth that's been invested in
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: your life, Timothy. Retain the standard of sound words. Verse 14,
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: guard the treasure. Guard the treasure that has been entrusted
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: to you. See the word entrusted? It's the word, it's
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: a banking term for making a deposit. The treasure that
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: I have spent years depositing in you, oh Timothy, guard it.
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: Retain the standard and guard the treasure. Retain the standard,
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: guard the treasure. Must have been in Timothy's mind until
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: the day of his death. As it comes from his
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: mentor in such straightforward way. This seems to set Paul
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: off into a series of exhortations. And I can count
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: six of them in the second chapter. The first one
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: is in verse 1. Be strong in the grace that
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: is in Christ Jesus. Timothy says. Preach grace, live grace,
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: be strong in grace. Second, be faithful to deposit the
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: truth in others. That's verse two. The things which you
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: entrust these to faithful men who will be able to
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: teach others also. I call this the relay of truth.
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: Paul got it from the baton of another. Paul took
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: the baton and gave it to Timothy. Timothy takes the
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: baton and hands it off to others. Timothy, don't drop
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: the baton. Don't stop the relay. I've gotten it from
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: others and it passes through me to you and it
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: passes through you to others. This has been called the
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: ministry of multiplication. From you to others. I've given it
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: to many others as well. Timothy, you're one of them.
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: And Timothy, when each one of you give it to others,
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: it will just multiply. It will grow. Don't drop the baton.
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: Don't fail in the responsibility of your life. Pass it on.
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: Be faithful to make the deposit. The third is to
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: be brave as a soldier. That's in verses 3 and 4.
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: Suffer hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: everyday life so that he may please the one who
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: enlisted him as a soldier. Be brave like a soldier.
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: Then he turns to the picture of an athlete and
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: he says, be disciplined as an athlete is disciplined. If
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: prize unless he competes according to the rules. He's training
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: and then he goes into the race or whatever may
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: be the responsibility of his role in athleticism and he
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: carries it out. It takes discipline to do it all. Timothy,
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: be disciplined as an athlete. Verse 15 is the fifth exhortation.
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: workman who does not need to be ashamed in accurately
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: handling the word of truth. Be diligent as a workman,
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: and finally, be gentle like a servant. That's verses 24
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: to 26. With gentleness, verse 25, correcting those who are
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: in opposition. Talk about a checklist for living faithfully. That'll
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: do it. Be strong in grace. Be faithful to deposit.
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: Be brave like a soldier, disciplined like an athlete, diligent
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: like a workman, and gentle like a servant. All of
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: that provides the impetus for him to move into the warnings.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: And the warnings in this letter appear in the first
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: part of chapter 3 where he becomes realistic when he says,
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: realize this. And I think it was here that he
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: must have paused and looked up through the grate and
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: began to imagine what life would be like when it
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: moves on without him. Knowing humanity as Paul knew it,
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: understanding depravity as he had written of it in the
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: Roman letter, the letter to the Romans, he says to Timothy,
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: realize that things will go from bad to worse. Difficult
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: times will come. One of my mentors used to render
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: this savage times. That's not too far off. without adding
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: to the scripture, but making them, helping you understand how
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: relevant they are, let me just use the words, difficult
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: times have come. It was future to Paul, but it's
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: present to us. The world now is much worse than
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: it was in the days of the apostle, and the
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: apostle is warning Timothy that there will be an erosion
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: of the standard. There will be a departing from the truth.
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: There will be a living, in compromise. There will be
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: hypocrisy and duplicity and lies and deception. It'll only get worse.
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: See verse 10, you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions,
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: and sufferings such as happened to me in these places.
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: Now verse 13, evil men and imposters will proceed from
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: bad to worse. Has that happened? why they even board
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: airplanes with bombs connected to them. Why, they will stand
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: before you and say one thing and mean something altogether different.
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: They will take your money when you're not watching. They
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: will come into your home and they will steal your valuables.
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: even though you try to protect yourself from them. But
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: to make it worse, there will be religious hypocrisy and
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: imposters who will try to convince you that this is
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: truth when, in fact, it is a lie. Timothy, be alert. Now,
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: when he gets to verse 14, there is a strong contrast.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: But you, Timothy... I yell it out because it's contrast
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: in the way it's written here. The pronoun is at
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: the very beginning of the sentence, and thankfully our translators
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: have done that in this. You, however, you, however, the
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: world will do this. People will do that. You'll find
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: the times will move. But you, it's like he turns
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: Timothy around and shakes him by the shoulders. But you
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: listen to me now, Timothy. Two things are to guard
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: your steps. First, continue in the things you have learned
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: and become convinced of knowing from whom you have learned them.
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: From childhood you have known the sacred writings. He starts
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: with the wisdom that comes from other people. Continue in
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: the things you have learned from those who have been
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: older and wiser than you. And continue in the things
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: that you find written on the sacred manuscripts. Both provide
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: you with the kind of strength and wisdom you need
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: to survive in a world that's lost its way. Both.
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: This is a good moment for me to pause and
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: help you do a little self-analysis. It's a preacher's way
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: of saying I'm going to start meddling. Many of us
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: are living fast-moving lives. We have moved ahead in our
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: speed and our efficiency, but it may be that we
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: have outrun the wisdom and training that we were first
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: given by those older than we. Can you remember the
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: teaching that was passed along to you by a godly
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: mother or a wise father or a mentor or a
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: teacher or a coach or a friend or a pastor
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: in your younger years? I can remember as if it
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: were yesterday. Some things passed along to me, especially by
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: my father, who didn't talk nearly as much as my mother,
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: but he somehow connected with me. He really connected with
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: me on my 13th birthday. I was laying in the
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: bed in my room, and my birthday, he was out
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: there weeding the little flower garden and said, Charles, you
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: need to come out here and help me finish this.
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: And I said, no, not today, I'm 13. That's the
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: last thing I remember saying until about dark that evening.
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: He was in the house like a flash and he
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: whipped me all the way out the door and all
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: the way across the backyard and all the way to
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: the flower bed until I was convinced I will get
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: every possible weed that is in existence out of this
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: flower bed. Toward the end of the day, before sundown,
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: he came out and said, come on, get cleaned up.
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: We're going to go to dinner, celebrate your birthday. And
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: while at dinner, he passed along something to me about
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: obedience that I remember to this day. Helps when they
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: beat it into you, by the way. No, I never
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: suffered a beating, so don't feel sorry for me. But
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: I had a father who cared enough about me not
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: to worry that I had turned 13. If I needed
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: a spanking, I was going to get one. As I recall,
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: it was the last one, since I was able to
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: outrun him after that. I learned and became convinced of
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: something that has helped me all the way through the
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: rest of my life. When someone in authority over you
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: has your good at heart, you do exactly what they say.
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: You don't even ask why. Good counsel. Dr. John Wolvard,
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: for many years, the president at Dallas Seminary, in fact,
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: 34 years, said at one of the graduating classes, I
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: forget which one, that he had a concern about our graduates.
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: He made the comment, I fear that we may be
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: graduating people with too many beliefs and not enough convictions.
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: Paul mentions both. Continue in the things you have learned.
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: Those are your beliefs. But continue in the things you
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: become convinced of. Things that you believe are many in number,
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: but things you're convinced of are things you'll die for.
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: They become convictions. They become the very pillars of your life.
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: And you would not bend if you had to face
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: a firing squad. You'd die for that truth. How are
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: your convictions coming along? You pick up beliefs from a
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: message like this, but you don't pick up convictions until
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: you digest them and make them your own. And verse
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: 15 tells us he had another source of truth and
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: it was from the word of God. From childhood, wouldn't
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: that have been a blessing? Some of you were thinking
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: since you were not raised in a Christian home. From childhood, Timothy,
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: you have known the sacred writings which were able to
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: give you the wisdom that leads to salvation. through faith
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: which is in Christ Jesus. Again, if I may dig
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: a little deeper, are you feeding yourself on the word
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: of God? What you feed yourself is far more important
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: than what you hear from me. It's what you dig
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: out and prepare in your time with the Lord. That's
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: what will stay with you. You'll soon forget what I share.
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: But you won't forget what you study and dig out
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: on your own. You see, one of the signs of
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: maturity as we grow up is that we learn to
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: fix our own meals. We learn to feed ourselves. And
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: we're not dependent on someone to make the meals for us.
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: You have known the sacred writings which were able to
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: give you the wisdom that leads to salvation. Oh, Timothy,
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: as the last days come, all the more reason for
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: you to stay in the scriptures. Let me pause and add,
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: trust me on this one, no person condemned to die
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: spending his final hours in a dark dungeon is gonna
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: pass along information that isn't reliable or exhortations that really
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: didn't matter. When you're where Paul was, You've gotten rid
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: of all the silly playthings of life, and you're coming
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: down to the nubbies. You're addressing things that are matters
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: of life and death. There are no time-wasting pastimes here.
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: The blade of the axe being sharpened can be heard
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: through the window of one of the barracks. The time
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: of his departure is at hand. Pay attention. With that
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: exhortation in mind, Paul leaves the greatest statement on the
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: inspiration of Scripture found anywhere in the Word of God.
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: All Scripture is God-breathed. All Scripture is profitable for, look
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: at the list, teaching, reproof, correction, training, and righteousness. All
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: Scripture will cause you to be the man of God,
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: adequate and equipped for every good work. Believe it now, Timothy.
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: Believe it when I'm gone. Believe it when you're dying.
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: Pass it on to the next generation. All scripture is profitable.
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: It will teach. It will reprove. It will correct. It
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: will train in righteousness. Dig into it, Timothy. Feed your
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: souls on it. Feed your soul on it. It will
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: equip you for every good work. And with that, he
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: comes to his final 18 sentences. 18 sentences, some of
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: them rather brief. And he states them at the beginning
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: in a way that grabs your attention. Listen. I solemnly
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: who is to judge the living and the dead and
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: by his appearing and his kingdom. Would that get your attention?
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: I think so. Timothy, I solemnly charge you. This isn't
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: a series of helpful options that you can pick and choose.
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: These are charges that come from my pen, my heart,
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: to your soul. Listen to me, Timothy. What is it
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: he's to listen to? What is it he's to do?
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: He begins with the first of several staccato commands. He writes,
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: Herald the word. Proclaim the truth. Don't try to reinvent
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: the theological wheel. Don't attempt to be so creative and
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: cute that folks miss the truth. No need for meaningless
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: and silly substitutes that entertain but do not convict and convert.
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: Preach the truth. Preach it, Timothy. Preach it for the
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: rest of your years. For as long as you're on
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: this earth, preach the truth. Preach the word. Press it
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: home on all occasions, convenient or inconvenient. Never lose your
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: sense of urgency, writes the New English Bible. Love the
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: way that reads. Never lose your sense of urgency. Where
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: does that come from? Verse 2. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: great patience and instruction. But earlier he says, preach the word,
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: be ready, be steady, stay at it in season. Out
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: of season. This sounds like he's giving us the okay
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: to jam it down anybody's throat, whether they're ready to
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: hear it or not. If you want to hear it, great.
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: If you don't want to hear it, great. I'm jamming
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: it down today, and you're on the bus, and you
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: jam it down. The person sitting next to you, and
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: you get on the plane, and you ram it there.
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. This
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: is not for the hearer. This is for the speaker.
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: The one who is to do this and to be
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: ready to do it in season and out of season
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: is the speaker. I think John Stott clarifies this. This injunction,
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: he writes, is not to be taken as an excuse
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: for the insensitive brashness which has sometimes characterized our evangelism
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: and brought it into disrepute. We have no liberty to
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: barge unceremoniously into others' people's privacy or tread clumsily on
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: the corns. No, the occasion which Paul has in mind
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: are probably welcome or unwelcome, not for the hearers as
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: much as for the speakers. Be on duty at all times,
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: convenient or inconvenient. It seems then that what we are
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: given here is not a biblical warrant for rudeness, but
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: a biblical appeal against laziness. Don't be lazy, Timothy. Do
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: your homework. Don't stand up and start with an apology
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: that you didn't quite have enough time that week to prepare.
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: It doesn't work, Timothy. I often remember the story that
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: Stan Toussaint tells. He worked alongside a man he called Rolf.
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: He was German. Stan was the song leader and Rolf
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: was the preacher. Don't know where it happened, probably Hinkley, Minnesota.
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: And he said Rolf would often turn to him and say,
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: sing more. God hasn't given me his word lately. Hasn't
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: given me his word yet. So he'd sing another song.
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: And he'd say, sing another song, Stan, that God hasn't
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: yet revealed what I should say today. And He said,
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: one day in a moment of unusual honesty, the old
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: preacher said, you know, Stan, the Lord has now spoken
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: to me. And he has said, Rolf, you're lazy. If
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: I'm not prepared to preach when Sunday morning comes, it
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: is my fault. It is my responsibility to be ready.
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: In season or out of season. Hot or cold. Headache
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: or feeling great. Up or down, discouraged or on top,
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: my job is to proclaim the truth and to do
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: it in a way that it sticks and stabs you
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: awake and won't let you sleep through your sin and
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: holds you accountable to God. Not to me, but to God.
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: Because his truth is what reproves and rebukes and exhorts.
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: I am to do it with great patience and instruction.
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: And his spirit rolls up his sleeves, if you will,
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: and keeps you awake. Won't let you turn it off.
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: For the time will come when they will not endure
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: sound doctrine. May I change it again to this thought?
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: The time has come when they do not. endure sound doctrine.
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: Wanting to have their ears tickled, they accumulate for themselves
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: teachers in accordance to their own desires and will in
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: fact turn away their ears from the truth and will
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: turn aside to myths. I ask you, have we come
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: to that time? Have we come to an hour in
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: our history when that kind of thing has occurred? Churches
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: have become entertainment centers. People are being told what they
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: want to hear with the idea that's the only way
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: you can get the growth to happen. We water it
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: down and we make it palatable so that they will
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: like what they hear. And I can't find a place
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: in the scriptures where I'm to tell you what you
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: are to like, that you like what you hear. I
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: can't find it. I'm to tell you what you need
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: to hear. and what I need to hear. And the
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: problem has come to a little pathological ailment called itching ears.
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: And as a result, we work very creatively to keep
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: you coming back. Nonsense. Your coming back is your responsibility
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: before God, my job, is to tell you the truth.
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: And you can count on this till the last day
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: of my life. That's what you're going to hear. Walt
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: Kaiser writes this nicer than I would, so let me
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: read his words here. Regardless of what new distinctives and
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: emphases are periodically offered, that which is needed above everything
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: else to make the church viable, authentic, and effective is
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: the declaration of the scriptures with a new purpose, passion,
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: and power. Too often the Bible is little more than
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: a book of epigrammatic sayings or springboards that give us
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: a rallying point around which to base our editorials. Where
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: did we get the audacious idea that God would bless
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: our opinions or judgments? Who wants to hear another point
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: of view? as an excuse for a Bible study or
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: a message from the word of God. Who said God
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: would bless our studies, our programs for the church, or
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: our ramblings on the general area announced by the text?
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: Surely this is a major reason why the famine of
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: the word continues in massive proportions in most places in
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: North America. Surely this is why the hunger for the
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: teaching and the proclamation of God's word continues to grow
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: year after year. Men and women cannot live by ideas alone.
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: No matter how eloquently they are stated or argued, but
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: solely by a patient reading and explanation of all scripture,
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: line upon line, paragraph upon paragraph, chapter after chapter, book
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: after book, where are such interpreters to be found and
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: where are their teachers? Paul, my friend, the time has come.
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: You were exactly right. But you, Timothy, be sober, endure hardship,
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: do the work, fulfill your ministry. And with that, he
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: becomes very personal. It's a touching closing. I'm already being
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: poured out. Maybe he heard the latch at the gate.
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: Maybe he heard him wrestling with the grate above him.
• 57:40
  Speaker 1: Maybe he heard the soldier's boots on the cobblestones of
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: the street. The time of my departure has come. The
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: good fight I have fought. The course I have finished.
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: The faith I have kept. And look at where his
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: thoughts are. In the future, there is laid up for
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge,
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: will award me on that day. And not only to me,
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: but to also, also to all who have loved his appearing.
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: Make every effort to come soon. Verse 21, come before winter.
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: Verse 22, the Lord be with your spirit. Grace be
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: with you. He folds up the letter. He pushes it
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: through the bars to give it to Luke. And Luke
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: takes it ultimately to Ephesus where Timothy is to unroll
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: the scroll and listen closely to the voice. He has
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: learned to love. Knowing that the ending of his life
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: was too emotional a thing for me to simply try
• 58:48
  Speaker 1: to tell, I've written the details in several paragraphs. Alone
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: and without fear, Paul stared directly into the eyes of
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: the execution squad. Several held rods with which they would
• 59:05
  Speaker 1: beat him. One held the axe. with which he would
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: sever his head from his shoulders. They marched him through
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: the heavy gate and beyond the stone wall that surrounded Rome,
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: past the pyramid of Cestius, which still stands, onto the
• 59:22
  Speaker 1: Ostian Way toward the sea. Crowds journeying to Rome would
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: know by the rods and the axe that an execution
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: would soon transpire. They would pass it with a shrug.
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: It happened yesterday. It will happen tomorrow. The manacled prisoner
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: walking stiffly, ragged and filthy from the dungeon, was not
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: ashamed or degraded. The squad of grim-faced soldiers never noticed
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: as they frowned and stared ahead. But there was a
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: faint smile on their prisoner's face. He was en route
• 59:59
  Speaker 1: to a triumph. The crowning day of his reward. For
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: as he had written to him, living was Christ and
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 1: to die is gain. No axe across the back of
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: his neck would rob him of his triumphant destiny. In fact,
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: it would initiate it. They marched Paul to the third
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: milestone on the Austrian way to a little pine wood
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 1: in a glade, the place of the tombs, known now
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 1: as the Trefontaine, where there stands an abbey in Paul's honor.
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 1: He is believed to have been placed overnight in a
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: tiny cell near the place of his execution. At first light,
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: the next dawn, the soldiers took Paul to a stump.
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: The executioner stood ready, stark naked in Roman fashion, axe
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: in his hand. The men stripped Paul, tied him kneeling
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: upright to the low pillar, which exposed his neck. The
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: lictors beat him with rods for the last time. He
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: groaned and bled from his nose and his mouth. Then,
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: without a hint of hesitation, the executioner frowned. as the
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: blade gleamed in the morning.
• 1:01:18
  Speaker 2: Sun and fell swiftly, hitting with a dull thud, and
• 1:01:26
  Speaker 2: the head of Paul rolled down in dust. In that
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 2: brutal moment, the soul of the great apostle was immediately
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 2: set free as his spirit soared Into the heavens. Absent
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 2: from the body. He was at last at home.
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 1: With the Lord. Thank you Father for giving us a
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: life like this one. Who helps us think deeper. Stand
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 1: more confidently alone. Live better. Grow taller. Thank you for
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: his courage to the end. His submission to your plan,
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: brutal though it seems to many. Thank you for his
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 1: quiet resolve. We look forward to meeting this man and
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 1: talking with him face to face. In the meantime, Father,
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: find us faithful. May we praise you with our lives.
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 1: May we live for you the rest of our days.
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: in the strong name of Christ our Lord. And everyone said, Amen.
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 3: The preceding message, Shackled, Deserted, but Still Undaunted, was copyrighted
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 3: in 2001, 2003, and 2024, and the sound recording was
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 3: copyrighted in 2024 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 3: are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 3: is strictly prohibited.