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Voddie Baucham - Revival Preaching · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: My assignment tonight is to address the issue of revival
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  Speaker 1: and preaching. When we think about revival, it's hard to
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  Speaker 1: separate it from preaching. Oftentimes, when we think about revivals,
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  Speaker 1: we think about the preachers who are associated with those revivals.
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  Speaker 1: When we think about some of the preachers that we've
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  Speaker 1: already talked about here today, Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield
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  Speaker 1: and the like, we think about the way that God
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  Speaker 1: used them and used their preaching in leading those revivals.
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  Speaker 1: But what is it exactly that needs to be a
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  Speaker 1: part of that kind of preaching? What is it exactly
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  Speaker 1: that those of us who have the privilege of preaching
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  Speaker 1: and a desire to see revival ought to be mindful
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  Speaker 1: of as we preach?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I'm glad you asked.
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  Speaker 1: In the quintessential preaching passage, I believe we have an answer.
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  Speaker 1: I know we've all looked at 2 Timothy chapter four
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  Speaker 1: many times. But I want us to look at it
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  Speaker 1: tonight through a different lens and maybe from a different
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  Speaker 1: angle and perspective. And that is through the angle and
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  Speaker 1: perspective of preaching and revival. And what kind of preachers
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  Speaker 1: God uses in revival. What kind of preachers we need
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  Speaker 1: to desire to be if we're to be in that
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  Speaker 1: place and ready and able for God to use us.
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  Speaker 2: In such a way.
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  Speaker 1: I turn us to this passage because I think in
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  Speaker 1: the middle of this text, we see this need and
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  Speaker 1: call for revival. Beginning at verse one, I charge you
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  Speaker 1: in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who
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  Speaker 1: is to judge the living and the dead by his
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  Speaker 1: appearing in his kingdom, preach the word, be ready in season,
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  Speaker 1: out of season, Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience
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  Speaker 1: and teaching. And there's a little hint there, right? In season,
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  Speaker 1: out of season. There are good times for preaching and
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  Speaker 1: difficult times for preaching. And I would argue that when
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  Speaker 1: we're talking about revival, that would be one of those
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  Speaker 1: good times, one of those good seasons for preaching.
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  Speaker 2: Verse 3.
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  Speaker 1: For the time is coming when people will not endure
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  Speaker 1: sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for
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  Speaker 1: themselves teachers to suit their own passions. I can't read
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  Speaker 1: that verse without just commenting on how many times I've
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  Speaker 1: shared that with people who ask me the question. I've
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  Speaker 1: been asked so many times, and you've probably been asked
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  Speaker 1: the question or you've asked the question yourself, Why is
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  Speaker 1: it that so many reprobate churches are huge?
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  Speaker 2: Why?
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  Speaker 1: Why is it that so many false teachers are preaching.
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  Speaker 2: To thousands and tens of thousands? Why? Why is it?
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  Speaker 1: Why? Why does God allow these individuals to have these
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  Speaker 1: names and these profiles. And here we've just heard about
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  Speaker 1: this need for $ 1. 5 million to buy a building for
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  Speaker 1: this seminary. Man, there's people out there who are teaching
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  Speaker 1: horrible stuff who can just stroke that check.
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  Speaker 2: Because they got it. They got it. And people are
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  Speaker 2: just pouring funds into their ministries. Why, why, why? It
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  Speaker 2: just seems like it ought not to be so.
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  Speaker 1: And the answer to that question is, that is true
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  Speaker 1: because the Bible is true. It's exactly what Paul is saying.
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  Speaker 1: The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching,
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  Speaker 1: but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers
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  Speaker 1: to suit their own passions. That's why those churches are huge,
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  Speaker 1: because the Bible is true. Those churches aren't huge because
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  Speaker 1: something's wrong in terms of God's word, right? Those churches
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  Speaker 1: are huge because something's right. It's what was predicted. It's
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  Speaker 1: what we've been told. It's what we've been shown. And
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  Speaker 1: we'll turn away from listening to the truth and wander
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  Speaker 1: off into myths. Sounds like there's a need for revival.
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  Speaker 2: Amen?
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  Speaker 1: Like right there, it sounds like there's a need for
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  Speaker 1: a revival. There are people who have a desire. There
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  Speaker 1: are people, they want preaching. They want worship. But what
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  Speaker 1: they become accustomed to and what they become satisfied with
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  Speaker 1: and what they become hungry for is antithetical to that
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  Speaker 1: which God has given for their benefit There's a need
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  Speaker 1: for revival. There's a need for people to be awakened
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  Speaker 1: from their slumber, to be snatched out of those places. Well,
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  Speaker 1: there's an answer. And here's where we're going to concentrate tonight.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 5. As for you. That's them. That's what's happening
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  Speaker 1: out there. How do you respond to that? Who are
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  Speaker 1: you to be? How are you to preach.
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  Speaker 2: In light of that?
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  Speaker 1: As for you, always be sober-minded. Endure suffering. Do the
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  Speaker 1: work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry.
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  Speaker 2: There it is. There it is.
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  Speaker 1: Oftentimes, we think about revival and preachers whom God would
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  Speaker 1: use in revival. And we would use things like, you know,
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  Speaker 1: articulate and winsome and powerful and.
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  Speaker 2: Fill in the blanks, right?
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  Speaker 1: And instead, we get, Serious, courageous, evangelistic, and faithful. To
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  Speaker 1: put a finer point on it. Serious, courageous, evangelistic, and faithful.
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  Speaker 1: That's the call for Timothy. And that's the call to
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  Speaker 1: all of those whom God would use to preach in
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  Speaker 1: the midst of times that are in need of revival.
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  Speaker 1: In the midst of times where people have gone astray
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  Speaker 1: and need to be rebuked and awakened. Sober or serious, courageous, Evangelistic.
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  Speaker 2: And faithful. Let's look at these in turn.
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  Speaker 1: First, those whom God would call to preach in the
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  Speaker 1: midst of this must be serious.
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  Speaker 2: Paul says, as for you, always be sober-minded. Be serious.
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  Speaker 1: Now, what he means here is not that We're to
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  Speaker 1: be somber, that we're never to smile, that nothing is
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  Speaker 1: ever to be happy.
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  Speaker 2: That's not what he means here.
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  Speaker 1: But in order to understand where he's coming from, I
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  Speaker 1: think it's important to look at this in context. Look
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  Speaker 1: at this, for example, in light of the beginning of
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  Speaker 1: the letter. Look at 2 Timothy chapter 1. Look there
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  Speaker 1: beginning in verse 1. 2 Timothy is the most intimate
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  Speaker 1: letter that we find among the Pauline letters. It's incredibly
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  Speaker 1: intimate and personal. He writes, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: by the will of God, according to the promise of
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  Speaker 1: life that is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved child.
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  Speaker 1: By the way, Timothy's not his son biologically.
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  Speaker 2: Biologically.
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  Speaker 1: This is spiritual. He's referring to him as his beloved child. Grace, mercy,
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  Speaker 1: and peace from God the Father in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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  Speaker 1: I thank God whom I serve as did my ancestors
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  Speaker 1: with a clear conscience as I remember you constantly in
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  Speaker 1: my prayers night and day. intimate, personal relationship. As I
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  Speaker 1: remember your tears, they share tears together. I long to
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  Speaker 1: see you that I may be filled with joy. I
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  Speaker 1: remember your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in
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  Speaker 1: your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice. And now
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure dwells in you as well. He knows his
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  Speaker 1: family history. For this reason, I remind you to fan
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  Speaker 1: the flame, the gift of God, which is in you
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  Speaker 1: through the laying on of my hands. He ordained him
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  Speaker 1: for God gave us a spirit, not of fear, but
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  Speaker 1: of power and of love.
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  Speaker 2: And of self-control.
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  Speaker 1: This is an incredibly personal and intimate letter. And yet,
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  Speaker 1: when he comes to the crux of the matter, and
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  Speaker 1: he calls upon Timothy to commit himself to the preaching
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  Speaker 1: of the word, listen to the way he chooses to
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  Speaker 1: frame it. I charge you. in the presence of God
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  Speaker 1: and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living
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  Speaker 1: and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom.
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  Speaker 1: It doesn't sound like it's personal and intimate anymore. Sounds
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  Speaker 1: like this is serious. He's speaking here as an apostle.
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  Speaker 1: He's speaking here not just as a friend and a
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  Speaker 1: buddy and a father in the ministry. He's speaking here
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  Speaker 1: as an apostle, and he's calling young Timothy to a
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  Speaker 1: sober-minded task. You know what this puts me in the
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  Speaker 1: mind of? When I read this, I always think of
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  Speaker 1: a general in the armed forces who is at the
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  Speaker 1: commissioning ceremony of his grandson, and he's pinning on the
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  Speaker 1: insignia for his grandson who's just been commissioned during wartime.
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  Speaker 1: It's serious and it's sobering. The general stands there and
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  Speaker 1: here's his grandson and he's proud of his grandson, but
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  Speaker 1: there's a war going on and his grandson has just
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  Speaker 1: raised his right hand and join the battle. And he's
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  Speaker 1: commissioning this young man to go and get in the fight.
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  Speaker 1: At that point, he's not grandpa.
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  Speaker 2: He's the general. This is serious. It's sober.
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  Speaker 1: Another thing that this puts me in the mind of,
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  Speaker 1: Many of us in the ministry will have had this experience,
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  Speaker 1: will have this experience, and that is doing a wedding
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  Speaker 1: ceremony for one of your children.
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  Speaker 2: Amen. It's serious. It's dead serious.
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  Speaker 1: It doesn't mean that there's no fun, that there's no joy,
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  Speaker 1: that there's no, it's the most joyous thing just as
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  Speaker 1: it is the most serious thing. That's what we're talking
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  Speaker 1: about here. The call to preach is serious. I remember
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  Speaker 1: at my ordination, a lot of it is a blur
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  Speaker 1: so long ago, but I remember this phrase. Young man,
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  Speaker 1: when God calls you to preach, don't stoop to be
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  Speaker 1: a king. Because there is no higher calling. None. And
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  Speaker 1: we must be sober-minded and recognize that what we are
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  Speaker 1: called to do is as serious as anything. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: it's the most serious thing that anyone could ever be
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  Speaker 1: called to do. Because we are dealing not just with
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  Speaker 1: life and death, but with eternity.
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  Speaker 2: There are souls under our care. And in light of that,
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  Speaker 2: we must be serious. We must take this task seriously.
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  Speaker 2: We must take our preparation for the task seriously. We
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  Speaker 2: must take the execution of the task seriously. We must
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  Speaker 2: take everything that goes along with the task seriously. We
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  Speaker 2: must be sober minded.
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  Speaker 1: Those are the kind of men that God uses. Those
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  Speaker 1: are the kinds of preachers that God uses. Those who
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  Speaker 1: are serious about their task. Again, doesn't mean that there's
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  Speaker 1: no joy in it. There most assuredly is. There is
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  Speaker 1: great joy in what we do. Amen?
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  Speaker 2: But it's serious. I remember when this sort of came
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  Speaker 2: home to.
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  Speaker 1: Me and it was the first time I conducted a funeral.
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  Speaker 1: And it just dawned on me. that this is what
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  Speaker 1: all the work is about. I mean, think about it. Ultimately,
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  Speaker 1: at the end of the day, we're preparing people to
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  Speaker 1: die and go meet God. We may help them do
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  Speaker 1: many things before then and until then, but at the
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  Speaker 1: end of the day, Everything that we are doing, all
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  Speaker 1: of the preaching that we are doing.
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  Speaker 2: Is crying out for men to be prepared to.
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  Speaker 1: Meet with God. And there's nothing more serious than that.
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  Speaker 1: So first, we must be serious. Secondly, we must be courageous.
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  Speaker 1: He says, endure suffering. Endure suffering. It's not the first
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  Speaker 1: time that we see this. In fact, if you look
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  Speaker 1: carefully at the book of 2 Timothy, what I've noticed
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  Speaker 1: in this book is there's a pattern. There's this two-pronged thing.
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  Speaker 1: And if you've heard me talk about this letter, you've
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  Speaker 1: heard me talk about this before because to me, it
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  Speaker 1: unlocked the book, seeing this two-pronged thing Theme, in every chapter,
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  Speaker 1: there are two things. One, in every chapter, young Timothy
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  Speaker 1: is called to preserve and proclaim the truth of the gospel.
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  Speaker 1: Look in chapter one in verse 13. Follow the pattern
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  Speaker 1: of sound words that you have heard from me in
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  Speaker 1: the faith and in the love that are in Christ Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the
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  Speaker 1: good deposit entrusted to you.
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  Speaker 2: Chapter 2, verse 1.
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  Speaker 1: You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that
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  Speaker 1: is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from
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  Speaker 1: me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust the faithful
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  Speaker 1: men who will be able to teach others also. Look
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  Speaker 1: at chapter 3. Chapter 3. You, however, verse 10, I
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  Speaker 1: follow my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith,
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  Speaker 1: my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my perseverance and sufferings
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  Speaker 1: that happened to me at Iconium. And what does he
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  Speaker 1: come down to? But as for you, verse 14, continue
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  Speaker 1: in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing
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  Speaker 1: from whom you have learned it and how from childhood
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  Speaker 1: you've been acquainted with with the sacred writings, which are
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  Speaker 1: able to make you wise for salvation through Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter four, we just read it. Preach the word. Be
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  Speaker 1: ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort
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  Speaker 1: with complete patience and teaching. At least once in every chapter,
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  Speaker 1: he calls upon young Timothy to preserve and proclaim the
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  Speaker 1: truth of the gospel.
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  Speaker 2: He's in prison. He knows he's at the end of
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  Speaker 2: his life.
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  Speaker 1: He knows that the gospel message is going to have
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  Speaker 1: to go forth and it's going to have to go
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  Speaker 1: forth by faithful men who will preserve it and proclaim it.
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  Speaker 1: But there's a second thing that we see in every chapter.
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  Speaker 2: In 2nd Timothy.
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  Speaker 1: Look at chapter 1 verse 8 therefore do not be
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  Speaker 1: ashamed of the testimony about our Lord nor of me
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  Speaker 1: his prisoner but share in suffering for the gospel by
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  Speaker 1: the power of God Chapter two, verse three, share in
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  Speaker 1: suffering as a good soldier in Christ Jesus. Chapter three,
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  Speaker 1: verse 12, indeed, all who desire to live a godly
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  Speaker 1: life in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted. We read earlier
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  Speaker 1: about the sufferings that Paul had endured. And then here
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  Speaker 1: in chapter four, as for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering.
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  Speaker 1: In every chapter, There's that two-pronged thing. On the one hand,
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  Speaker 1: preserve and proclaim the gospel. And on the other hand,
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  Speaker 1: endure suffering. In other words, the message of this letter is, Paul,
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  Speaker 1: who was in prison, was about to die, is saying
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  Speaker 1: to young Timothy, here's what I.
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  Speaker 2: Want you to do.
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  Speaker 1: Preserve, hold on to, and proclaim the truth of the gospel.
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  Speaker 1: and then endure the suffering that will inevitably follow as
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  Speaker 1: a result.
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  Speaker 2: Of doing so.
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  Speaker 1: Or to put a finer point on it, they're about
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  Speaker 1: to kill me for preaching the gospel. When they do,
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  Speaker 1: preach the gospel. Be courageous. Be courageous. And by the way,
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  Speaker 1: Being courageous here, there's at least a couple of senses
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  Speaker 1: in which we need to take this. On the one hand, obviously,
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  Speaker 1: being courageous means that we preach regardless of the cost.
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  Speaker 1: We preach whether it's in season or out of season.
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  Speaker 1: We preach whether people hear it and receive it. We
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  Speaker 1: preach whether we're free to do it or we preach
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  Speaker 1: whether or not we preach regardless of the cost. Like
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  Speaker 1: Peter and John before the Sanhedrin in Acts chapter four,
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  Speaker 1: when they're told not to go anymore and preach in
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  Speaker 1: this name. What is their response? Whether it is right
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  Speaker 1: to obey men rather than God, you be the judge.
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  Speaker 1: But we cannot but speak of what we have seen
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  Speaker 1: and heard. We have to. The next chapter, they're beaten,
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  Speaker 1: they're flogged. When they go back to the brethren, there's
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  Speaker 1: an impromptu worship service that breaks out as they celebrate
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  Speaker 1: the privilege of being beaten for the sake of Christ.
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  Speaker 1: A mini revival. So there is that sense. And truth
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  Speaker 1: be told, that's not something that.
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  Speaker 2: We've ever encountered. this part of the world, really had
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  Speaker 2: to worry about.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, in America, we say we're persecuted when people
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  Speaker 1: say nasty things about us.
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  Speaker 2: Bless your little old heart.
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  Speaker 1: In Nigeria right now, Christians are being killed at rates
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  Speaker 1: never seen before in the history of the church. Right
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  Speaker 1: now today, the children being kidnapped, their daughters being taken
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  Speaker 1: into forced marriages by the Muslims in the north of Nigeria.
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  Speaker 1: That's persecution. Not the news media saying nasty things about us.
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  Speaker 2: Amen?
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  Speaker 1: Call it what you want, but please stop calling it persecution.
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  Speaker 1: It's an insult to our brothers and sisters who are
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  Speaker 1: really being persecuted. So there is that sense. But there
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  Speaker 1: is another sense in which we must be courageous. And
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  Speaker 1: it follows with the context. Verse three, for the time
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  Speaker 1: is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but
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  Speaker 1: having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to
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  Speaker 1: suit their own passions and will turn away from listening
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  Speaker 1: to the truth and wander off in the myths. And
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  Speaker 1: then right after that, he says, that's for you. Why
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  Speaker 1: remind young Timothy of this? And why remind him of
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  Speaker 1: this in the context of telling him about what's going
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  Speaker 1: to happen? Why remind him of the need for him
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  Speaker 1: to be serious and to be courageous in light of that.
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  Speaker 2: I'll tell you why.
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  Speaker 1: Because there is a tendency and a temptation.
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  Speaker 2: To shave off the rough edges in order to keep
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  Speaker 2: people happy.
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  Speaker 1: When the church on the other side of town is
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  Speaker 1: blowing and going, It's one thing for there to be
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  Speaker 1: a church on the other side of town that's blowing
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  Speaker 1: and going and growing. It's another thing for the people
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  Speaker 1: in your church to start leaving going to the church
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  Speaker 1: on the other side of town that's blowing and going
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  Speaker 1: and growing. Because there's a compromise over there that's tickling,
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  Speaker 1: itching ears. And there can be a temptation to just
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  Speaker 1: shave off a little of the rough edges. I remember
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  Speaker 1: I graduated from seminary. I thought about this and it
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  Speaker 1: floored me. It'll be 30 years ago next year. I
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  Speaker 1: graduated in 96. And I remembered shortly thereafter serving in
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  Speaker 1: churches and at the time there was this sort of
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  Speaker 1: mix of ideas that were coming together. And everybody was
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  Speaker 1: reading Hybels and Warren and Barna. And it was called
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  Speaker 1: the Church Growth Movement. And there were these two main schools.
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  Speaker 1: I see some of y'all shaking your head, right? There
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  Speaker 1: was the Seeker Driven Movement, And then there was the
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  Speaker 1: seeker-sensitive movement, right? The seeker-sensitive movement was a response to
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  Speaker 1: the seeker-driven movement. And so there are these churches that
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  Speaker 1: are just exploding. We just hadn't seen things like this before.
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  Speaker 1: And there are churches with tens of thousands of people
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  Speaker 1: showing up. And so all of a sudden, people are
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  Speaker 1: just trying to figure out, you know, what's happening.
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  Speaker 2: And there was a formula.
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  Speaker 1: I was on staff at a church that took the
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: entire staff to Willow Creek, to the Willow Creek Conference.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: One of the most difficult things I've ever experienced in ministry.
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: The whole staff, we went. And I remember going to
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: that conference and having the people there at Willow Creek,
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: I don't know how many members there were at the time,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: but tens of thousands of people. Huge auditoriums overflowing with
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: people And basically you went there to spend a weekend
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: for them to tell you the formula.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: Here's what we do. Here's what we've done. Here's what works.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: And it would say, now we're not telling you to
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: go out and reproduce this, but here's a folder with
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: all the things that you need to go out and
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: reproduce this. And That weekend led to the departure of
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: many members of our staff, me included.
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: Because I remember when I was in college, I had
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: a number of jobs.
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: Bridget and I got married the summer between my sophomore
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: and junior year. I had a number of jobs, often
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: more than one. Got married between the summer of my
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: sophomore and junior year. Had our first child in 10 months.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: So our oldest daughter was born when I was a
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: junior in college. At one point, I was selling Cutco knives.
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: I still got them, by the way. At one point,
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: I was selling cars. I sold Toyotas and I sold Chevys.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: I could sell you a car. at one point, I
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: was in telemarketing for two days and it was so
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: hard to sit there in that conference and hear the
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: same stuff that people had taught me about being a
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: good salesman. And so a lot of people responded to that,
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: and they said, no, no, no, that's too much. We
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: can't be a seeker-driven church. We have to be a
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: seeker-sensitive church.
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: What was that?
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: We're not going to go all the way, but we're
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: going to shave off some of the edges. because we're
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: not courageous enough to just believe that God will bless
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: the ordinary means of praise. That won't bring revival. That's
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: a cause.
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: for the need for revival. Amen?
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: When men have become so worldly and so pragmatic and
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: they have gutted the gospel of all of its power
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: and most of its truths, that's when there is a
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: need for courageous preachers. Thirdly, serious, courageous, evangelistic. Evangelistic. There's
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: a need for evangelistic preachers. And I know, you know,
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: when we hear this and I say evangelistic preachers, I know,
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: I know what image that brings up in your mind, right?
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: The tent revival and the white three-piece suit and the.
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: No, I....
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: I don't mean that. I'm not talking about gimmicks. What
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: I mean by that is that we understand that we
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: are called to preach the gospel. We're not called to
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: preach moralism.
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: It's moralism.
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: Moralism sees Jesus as a moral example. Moralistic preaching says,
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: here's Jesus, he's our moral example. You wanna be a
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: better man? Here's seven things that you can do like
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: Jesus to be a better man. You wanna be a
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: better wife? Here's six things that you can do to
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: be a better wife. You wanna be a better businessman?
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: You wanna be a better, that's moralism. Jesus is a
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: mere moral example. And our preaching just highlights those moral
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: examples and calls people not to repentance, but to Christ-like morality.
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: That's not the gospel. We're therapeutic preaching. where every sermon
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: becomes a counseling session. That's not the gospel. That's not evangelistic,
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: nor do I mean doing your moralistic preaching and then
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: in your last two minutes, huh? doing your therapeutic preaching
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: and then in your last two minutes, doing your legalistic preaching,
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: then in your last two.
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: Minutes, no.
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: What I mean by evangelistic preaching is that the entire
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: aim of our preaching is to see men and women,
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: boys and girls, come to repentance and faith.
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: The whole of it, we want them to obey the Lord,
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: their God.
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: We want them to come to know him and the
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: forgiveness of their sins, and for them to be conformed
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: to the image of Christ. We want them to find
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: the gospel message from the word of God through our preaching,
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: and for that to transform their lives from the inside out.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: That's what I mean. That it's our goal, and that
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: it's a constant goal. Not one month out of the
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: year when we have evangelistic sermons so you can bring
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: your friend.
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: No.
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: The very heart and soul of our preaching ought to
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: be magnifying the person and work of Christ and calling
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: men and women and boys and girls to to repentance
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: of their sin and faith in him as their only
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: hope of salvation.
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: That's the essence of revival preaching.
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: Amen?
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: And here's the good news.
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: Whether that preaching results in great revivals or not, it
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: is the means that God uses to save sinners. May
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: we be unashamedly evangelistic in our preaching. May we unashamedly
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: call people to repentance, which means we unashamedly call sin, sin,
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: And I don't mean being mean and nasty about it.
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: Christ is glorious, amen? But that starts with a desire
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: and a passion in us. Is my desire and my
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: passion just to see the number of people growing? Or
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: is my desire and my passion for souls. Fourthly, this
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: kind of preaching is serious, it's courageous, it's evangelistic, and finally, faithful.
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: Faithful.
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: Look what he says. Fulfilled Your ministry. Just be faithful.
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: That's your goal. That's your aim. That's your calling.
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: Be faithful. Here's the beauty.
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: The beauty in this letter is that Paul knows that
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: he's at the end of his life. You see it.
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: You see it in what he writes, in the way
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: he writes. He doesn't hide that. At the end, he
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: says he wants Timothy to come to see him soon.
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: He doesn't believe that he has long. Now, this is
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: just me. But if I'm in prison.
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: And I believe that my captors aim to have my head.
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: And I'm sitting down and I'm writing a letter. I'm
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: just going to just keep it as real as I
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: can with you. I'm going to write something to this effect. Timothy,
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: you remember when Peter was in jail and the people
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: got together and had a prayer meeting?
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: Find them.
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: Amen. But he doesn't do that. He doesn't even say,
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: you know, pray for my release. He doesn't do that.
• 39:07
  Speaker 2: Why?
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: Because it's inconsistent with the request that he's making. You
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: cannot say to young Timothy, I am calling you to
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: preach the gospel knowing that it will cost you your life.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: And then turn around and say, I'm really not willing
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: to die myself.
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: It doesn't work. You know what does work?
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: Right after this, in case you wonder what fulfill your
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: ministry is referring to, look at verse six, most famous
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: paragraph here in this letter. For I am already being
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: poured out as a drink offering, and the time of
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: my departure has come.
• 39:52
  Speaker 2: I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race.
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: I have kept the faith.
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: on that day, and not only to me, but also
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: to all who have loved his appearing. I'm not asking
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: you to do what I'm not willing to do. Just
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: asking you to be faithful. And I want you to
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: know it's absolutely worth it. There's another aspect of this.
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: Notice he says, fulfill your ministry. Paul doesn't outline for
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: Timothy a particular ministry path.
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: Fulfill your ministry. Stay in your lane. Do what it
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: is that God has called you to do.
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: Do what it is that God has equipped you to do.
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: Fulfill your ministry. Don't find somebody out there who you
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: think is doing it right or doing it well, and
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: then try to pattern your ministry after someone else's ministry.
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: Fulfill your ministry. Be faithful.
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: Be a faithful steward of the gifts, talents, abilities, and
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: desires with which God has entrusted you. And use those
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: to the best of your ability. Use them to the utmost.
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: To be who you are. To man your post. Because
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: if you try to man somebody else's post, yours will
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: be vacant. Don't live your life coveting somebody else's calling.
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: Live your life being faithful to yours. And it's enough.
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: I promise you, it's enough. I believe we're in need
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: of revival. And as has been said from this pulpit
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: many times over the course of this weekend, I pray
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: that God sends it.
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: I just, if.
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: He wants it to be local, if he wants it to,
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: and praise God, amen, send it. If he wants it
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: to be regional, amen, hallelujah, praise the Lord. If he
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: wants it to be national, I'll take it.
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: Send it. If he wants it to be international, yes. Yes, Lord.
• 43:13
  Speaker 2: Even more, yes. Yes.
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: But regardless of whether or not that happens, this doesn't change.
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: If God sends revival, local, regional, national, international, what's going
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: to be required of preachers?
• 43:41
  Speaker 2: To be serious, to be courageous, to be evangelistic, and
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: to be faithful.
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: Amen? Amen.
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: But if God has.
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: You toil away at your post and you never see
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: revival in your lifetime, what does he require of you?
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: To be serious? To be courageous? Amen? To be faithful?
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: Same thing.
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: To be evangelistic, doesn't change. So whether God uses that
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: in your life to impact the lives of a few
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: people who come to faith and are forever transformed, or
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: whether he uses it in your life to put you
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: at the forefront of an international revival, Serve the Lord.
• 44:59
  Speaker 2: Serve the Lord.
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: I'll end with this. The guy who shared the gospel
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: with me was a guy by the name of Steve Morgan.
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: And Steve was on staff at Campus Crusade. It was
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: my first year in college. I'd never heard the gospel.
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: It was my first year in university. Again, as you
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: probably already know, I was raised by a single teenage
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: Buddhist mother. Never heard the gospel until I got to university.
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: And God used Steve Morgan to lead me to faith.
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: And he told me a story once that just floored
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: me and humbled me.
• 45:53
  Speaker 2: Steve was.
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: At a conference or something. And he was talking about,
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: you know, evangelism, this, that, and the other. And you
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: wouldn't know Steve's name unless I told you Steve's name.
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: And as he was, you know, going through this, somebody,
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: I guess, had heard me talk about my conversion and
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: mention that name. And they walked up to Steve and
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: they asked Steve if he was that Steve.
• 46:24
  Speaker 2: And he said, yes.
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: Yes. And then the person made the connection that I
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: guess Steve wasn't making in his mind. But the person
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: made the connection of something to this effect.
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: Here's Steve on a college campus just being faithful, manning
• 46:48
  Speaker 2: his post.
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: And through him being faithful, manning his post, God used
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: him not only to bring me to faith, but every
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: individual whose life that by God's grace I've been able
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: to impact is a secondary result of Steve's simple faithfulness
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: as he manned his post. I believe that when we
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: get to glory, those who've been faithful in this way,
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: who've been serious, courageous, evangelistic, faithful, though we may not
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: see thousands upon thousands, we are going to be amazed
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: in glory as we see the ripple effects of us
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: being faithful, manning our post. Mom, don't think this doesn't
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: include you. Amen? Because it absolutely does. Your faithfulness in
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: your home with your children. Jonathan Edwards had a mama.
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: She taught him some stuff.
• 48:33
  Speaker 2: Amen?
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: Amen?
• 48:41
  Speaker 2: So as we pray for revival, be serious. Be courageous.
• 48:51
  Speaker 2: Be unapologetically evangelistic.
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: And be faithful. God will bless it. Our good and
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: gracious God, we thank you and praise you for the
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: kindness that you show us in the simplest of things.
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: We thank you and we praise you for the ways
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: in which you use our small and simple gifts and
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: multiply them like the loaves and fishes. Father, as has
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: been said many times here, we do desire to see
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: revival in our land and in our day. Grant us
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: grace to be serious and courageous and evangelistic and faithful
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: to man our posts so that, should you so desire,
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: we might be ready and willing vessels in your hands,
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: regardless of how small.
• 50:24
  Speaker 2: The task. This we pray in Christ's name and for
• 50:29
  Speaker 2: his sake. Amen.