Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / October 9, 2016 | Route 66 - 2 Timothy

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October 9, 2016 | Route 66 - 2 Timothy · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: How are you today?
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's a beautiful morning, and we are in a series called Route 66, a Road Trip Through the Bible, and we have come to the little book of 2 Timothy, four chapters long.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, we ask you that you would bless us today as we uh as we look at this little practical book and pray for the folks who are here, because so many of them have got stuff they're wrestling with right now and difficulties, and and I pray that some of the balm of this book uh that you may apply that to their wounds, to their injuries, and give them healing.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name, amen.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: When my kids were uh at home, younger, let's say ages four, about 14, 13, 11, and 7.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's how far they were apart.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: A Geral and three boys.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I used to take them after supper every night and uh and usually spend the evening with them, play games with them, and so forth.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: One of the favorite games we had was Bible quizzing.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Bible quizzing.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: So uh they'd come, they were all excited about this, and they'd come in the living room, and uh, four of them would line.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: We had this really long couch, and four of them sit on the couch, and then I'd pull out some papers where I had, during the day just front, I'd write down questions from the Bible, and I also had a book if I wanted to consult one called Bible Quiz or something like that.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: So then I'd ask him questions and they'd sit there, you know, on the edge, and whoever stood up first, and they're like, How old was the Methuselah when he died?
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Whoever could stand up first, you know, answer the question correctly, we'd get a point.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so he'd go through the, you know, we'd do that for however long.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Whoever got the most points, you know, I don't know, got a kick in the butt.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: No, they got a piece of candy or something.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: So, and uh so you know, it'd usually start with easier questions, how many missionary journeys Paul have, and then it'd get harder, like who's the only left-handed judge and stuff like that.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: But the problem was that one of the kids was younger than the others by four years.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: He was the youngest.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Craig was say seven years old, when the others were 11, uh, 13, or 14.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so he'd just sit there.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: He'd never get any questions, or he could never get up quick enough.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't know enough stuff.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I learned after a while, and I'd say, okay, this next one, this is a Craig question.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: And he'd get all excited, and I say, so he gets a three-second head start.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: And it'd be a little bit easier, like how many stones were in David Sling, okay?
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: So, anyway, that way we kept him interested.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: So one night, after supper, so we're asking, so I'm asking questions, and he's just sitting there.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And and pretty soon I was gonna get to the Craig questions, but he was he was impatient that night.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so I decided to make him pay.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, Daddy, a Craig question, a Craig question.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so I said, Okay.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I threw him a little uh zinger.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: I said, Okay, Paul, the Apostle Paul, he gets okay, you guys have to wait.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: Craig gets three seconds first.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Apostle Paul went on three missionary journeys, and he died after one of them.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Which one?
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: And if that's a hard question for you, you need another cup of coffee.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: And Craig goes, Daddy, you know I haven't learned that stuff yet.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: So well, we've come to the place on Route 66, sort of the overlook, the turnoff, where Paul has finished all of his missionary journeys and he is about to die.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: And he knows he's about to die, and we can tell he knows he's about to die because in this book he says, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: 2 Timothy 4, 7.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: When you get to that place in your life, you are a fortunate person if you have some friends, a couple of friends who will walk through that those last months or years with you.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: And Paul had some friends like that.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we don't know exactly how many, but we know especially of two of them.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: One was uh the person you see early, one of the first people you ever see in life.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the last people you ever see in your life.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Your doctor, your physician.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Paul's doctor was named Luke.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: He called him my beloved physician, the beloved physician.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: And in this book, he writes to Timothy and he says, only Luke is with me.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Paul has been in Rome, he's been under house arrest for a few years, and then more recently, uh the emperor has ordered him thrown into a dungeon.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's called the Mamertine prison underground.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: And go with me sometime to Rome, you can see it.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: And he was in shackles, soldier, it was dark, no windows, and they allowed him company.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: He dictated this letter from there.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: But Paul knows that it will not be long now.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's getting colder, the winter is coming, and it's not gonna be long now before the Emperor Nero goes thumbs down, they take him out, and they execute him violently.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Beheading.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: And Luke is there with him.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: The other friend that Paul uh thinks of at this time in his life is the man to whom he writes this letter.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: His name is Timothy, and it's uh interesting that he would think of him as a friend because Timothy is so much younger than Paul.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Paul met him on his second missionary journey when he was about 20 years old.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Timothy lived in Lystra uh and uh uh and and he met him there.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Timothy was already, we think, already a believer, not sure, but but his grandmother Lois was a believer, and she passed on the faith to his mother Eunice, and we think Eunice passed on the faith to Timothy.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: And Paul became close to Timothy because Timothy, starting right then, had left home and traveled with Paul for over 15 years.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: They've been shipwrecked together, they've done things together, it's astounding.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so he feels very close to Timothy, and he has now put Timothy in charge of his most important church, church in Turkey called Ephesus.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Church of Ephesus.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where he's writing this letter, 2 Timothy.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: And Paul says in Philippians, I have no one like him.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Timothy may only be 35 years old right now, but Paul says, I have nobody like him.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: And in this book, he's gonna say something really important.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: He's gonna say, Timothy, it's time for you to take the baton.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'm passing it on to you right now.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm about to die.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I think this has profound implications for you and for me.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Both for us who are in Paul's situation, who need to pass the baton on, and for those who are in the situation of Timothy, uh, and who need to be willing to take the baton.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: And just sort of picture, so you can help you picture where you are in this.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: There are really three phases of Paul's and Timothy's relationship, and pretty much of any mentoring uh discipleship relationship.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Phase one is the sort of parenting phase.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe you lead that person to Christ, or maybe, like in Paul's case, you don't, but they you they feel like a your child in the faith.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: So this book begins to Timothy, my true son in the faith, my beloved child, because you've sort of taken them under your wing.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe they're your same age or almost your age, but you but it's sort of a parenting relationship.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: And by the way, the children that you raised.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: This this was the first phase of your relationship with him, wasn't it?
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: That you were their parent.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: Second phase, uh, I'm gonna call pace setting, because we're using the metaphor of a relay race today and passing on the baton.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: And and and and pace setting is when you set the pace for the person who's going to follow, and that's very important.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: And Paul had set the pace for Timothy, which is why he writes in this book, 2 Timothy 3, you know, Timothy, what I teach and how I live and what my purpose in life is.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, my faith, my patience, my love, and my endurance, because Timothy's been with them, and Paul has been setting the pace the whole time.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Now, that pace setting overlaps with, you could call it phase three, I'm calling it phase two B, which is partnering, which is that this person who's sort of been a child now, in a sense, is more like your fellow worker.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so Paul writes, Timothy, my fellow worker, to uh to the Romans in Thessalonians.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: He says, He's my brother, he's God's servant in the gospel, because now they've been side by side, they've been side by side in suffering, they've been side by side, you know, sharing the gospel.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: They have worked side by side now, even though it's it's it's one of them is much older than the other.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the third phase, phase 2b.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: And now we've come to the final phase, and that's the phase of passing the baton.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the phase that's happening in this book, where Paul is saying, I, Lord, you know, saying Lord's told me, Timothy, it's time for me to pass the baton on to you because I've finished the race myself.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: Now, uh, just to review for those of you that uh don't know track, track and feel at all, passing the baton happens in in a relay race in track, and there are a number of relay races, but the two prominent ones are the four by one hundred relays and the four by four hundred meter relays.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: Both of them, you may remember well, from the Olympics.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing about the relay race is that there's not just one thing important, how fast you are, but there's a second thing that it signs is even more important, and that is how you pass the baton.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: The baton is given to the first runner in the race, and he runs the the 100 meters, and then they get to that area of the track, uh 20 meters long, with lines on each side, and you have to pass the baton to the next runner when both of you are in, that has to be asked when both of you are in that area, that 20-meter area.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: If you do it too soon, you're disqualified, do it too late, you're disqualified, you drop it, you're disqualified.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: That that has to be done.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: So you slap it down in their hand, they grab it, they take it, you're at the same pace, and you move on.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: And what we see, even in the best runners in the world, is at times we see the baton dropped.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Or we saw in the Olympics, remember in the Rio Olympics, our men's four by 100 team.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, fast guys, they were hoping they they've been shut out, they've had bad luck over the years, they don't seem to ever be able to win any medals at all.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: And they had run and they'd run fast Jamaica with the same bolt much faster, but but they had gotten a bronze and they were all excited, and then all of a sudden, after the race, they get the word they were disqualified because the first runner had passed to the second runner.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Second runner was not in that area yet.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: They passed it too soon, and they're disqualified.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so Paul is this passing the baton is absolutely races are won or lost by how you pass the baton.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so 2 Timothy is the passing the baton book because Paul says, listen, I've run the race, I've finished my race, I've remained faithful, I've fought the good fight, it's time for you to take it.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: And he uses race metaphors elsewhere in this book, too.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: He says, anyone who competes as an athlete doesn't receive the victor's crown unless they compete according to the rules.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: 2 Timothy 2, 5.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: And in 2 Timothy 2.2, he pictures this sort of a relay.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: This is the theme verse of the navigators, when he says, and the things you've heard me say, Timothy, you need to entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so you see how you pass it down and they pass it down, and the important thing is that you keep passing the baton.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: You keep passing the truth.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if Timothy was to ask the question, exactly, Paul, if you want me to take the baton, what do you what do you mean by that?
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: How do I advance the baton of the Word of God and of the gospel and so forth on down the track?
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: And Paul's answer to that in this book is very interesting and instructive for you and for me, because he weaves back and forth his two answers.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's on the back of your study sheet.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: They both start with a letter.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: In English, they start with a letter S.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: The one is the word serve, and the other is the word suffer.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: And the first thing he says is that if you're going to advance the ministry and God's kingdom down the track, you need to serve and you need to serve boldly.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: And the way he says this is that he says, okay, Timothy, you have a speaking gift.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Timothy, Paul says, you got the speaking gift, and you need to fan into flame the gift that is in you.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: Timothy happened to be a timid soul, and he was getting a lot of flack at this time, we know, in Ephesus, and he had sort of shut down.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know how guys sometimes do, how we sometimes do?
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: We shut down and we close our mouths when under attack.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: We sort of retreat into our turtle shell.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's that was happening to Timothy, and Paul says, you need to fan into flame that gift that is in you.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you understand the metaphor.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: A month or so ago, the grandkids were over.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: Melody and I, Grammy and Papa, had fed them, asked them what they wanted for dessert.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: We had ice cream.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: No, we want s'mores, they said.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: Roasted marshmallows, roasted marshmallows, jumping up and down and screaming.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, grandparents, you really want to please them, but you know, uh mommy said, Grammy said, you know, I'm sorry, you know, we don't have a fire and so forth.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: And da da da, you know.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Well, I did have a fire this morning.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: I was burning limbs and so forth out there.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't we all go out and see if we can fan the flames, blow on the, blow on the embers and see if we can get it to light?
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, they're all excited, you know, scamper, scamper, scamper, and they all get down on their little knees and so forth, and we're all around that fire, and they're shh shh shh, you know, blowing and blowing, and I'm feeding little little bits of paper into it, and sure enough, we got it lit, and they're screaming with joy, and we end up roasting marshmallows and getting s'mores and getting it all over ourselves.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: But the picture is really the fanning the flame.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I suspect that the Holy Spirit would say to some of you this morning, if you would, if you had listened to him, he would say, you know what, you know that gift you used to use a lot, that gift of hospitality, or the gift of mercy, or the gift of teaching, or whatever, you know that gift, and then something happened and you sort of stopped doing it because you got hurt or exhausted or whatever.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: You might need, why don't you fan that gift back into flame?
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's a gift I've given you.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: And whether God, whether Spirit's saying that to you or not this morning, he certainly was saying that to Timothy through Paul.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: And the gift that he wanted Timothy to fan into flame was the gift of taking the Word of God, like I'm doing, and explaining it.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: And he tried to give him a picture of how important this gift was by saying in these famous verses we all ought to know, all scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: 3, 16, and 17.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: Timothy preach the word, he said.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: Be ready in season and out of season, even when it's cold and you're under attack, you need to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: You need to serve bold.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: So you need to talk the talk.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now, also, of course, he says you need to walk the walk.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want any hypocrisy.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want you living different than what you say.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: We constantly see, unfortunately, Christian leaders and Christian teachers who do this.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so Paul writes to Timothy: do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn't need to be ashamed, who correctly handles the word of truth.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, don't just talk the talk, but walk the walk.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: By the way, this is the theme verse of Awana.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: We have a great Awana program here.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I wana letters stand for approved workmen are not ashamed.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: And that comes from 2 Timothy 2.15.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: Now, also in walking the walk, talking the talk, walking the walk, he says, now listen, I don't want you involved in worthless, foolish talk that only leads to more godless behavior.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: This stuff spreads like cancer.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: And in the next verse, he says, don't get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: Servant of the Lord mustn't quarrel, but be kind to everyone, able to teach and be patient with difficult people.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: So you need to serve boldly.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: You need to talk the talk and walk the walk.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: Now the problem was, of course, uh that Timod was not a bold soul.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm guessing that Tim, uh Tim, Timothy would have had some objections.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: That he would have said, first of all, Paul, I'm too young.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not old enough to take on the kind of role that you've had, to speak out like you have in the face of ridicule and opposition.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: And that's oftentimes the objection that you get when you ask someone, will you lead a small group?
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: Will you somehow, will you take some leadership, will you do this, will you do that?
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh sometimes you'll hear, yeah, I'm just not old enough.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: I need to grow in the Lord more.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: And there is this tendency to think we're not ready.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: I I can tell you over decades of meeting Christian leaders that I suspect that 95% of the ones that I know always have felt as though they were dropped into the deep end of the pool before they were quite ready.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: And and and you we always feel as though we don't know enough or we're not quite ready.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: Certainly the high school kids that I went to New York City with to witness this summer felt that they were not quite ready, didn't know enough.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: And yet Paul's statement is Tim, no, you're not old enough, I suppose, because you're not as old as me, but that you're you're old enough.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: You're old enough.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: And Timothy would have might have then said, but I'm not strong enough, because we know Timothy had a weakness.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: He had such stomach problems that Paul got so desperate at one point that he said, listen, slow down on the water and drink a little more wine for your stomach's sake, which some of you, despite the fact you have no stomach trouble, have chosen as your theme verse for life.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: So sorry, that was extra.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: But but um but he had he had such stomach difficulties that he would have said, I'm not strong enough, or you know what?
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: He would have said, I'm not confident enough, which we know was true.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: He was an introvert, he was a shy, a timid soul, Timothy was.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: And many of the people that God challenges to fan the flame and speak out, to talk the talk and be bold are aren't ready, which is why, by the way, in that verse, fan the flame, Paul wrote in 1, 6 and 7, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God in you through the laying on of my hands.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: For the Spirit God gave us doesn't make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: A verse that some of you know better is for God's not given us the spirit of fear.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: He hasn't given us that God hasn't made us, created us with a timid spirit.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: You therefore, chapter 2, verse 1, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: Be bold, be strong, for the Lord your God is with you.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: I am not afraid, oh no, I'm not.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: I am not dismayed, oh no, I'm not, for the Lord my God is with me.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: One of my favorite books over the years in my library has been a book by a Presbyterian pastor from Florida, who then became a talk show host named Steve Brown, entitled No More, Mr.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: Nice Guy.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: The argument of that book is that Christians need to accept God's challenge for them to be bold and courageous, that the world could be changed, and we could be far more dangerous if we would allow ourselves to be bold.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: God don't make no wimps, he writes.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: He's very funny.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: And you find that down Through history, that the last people that you would expect to be bold sometimes are.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm thinking famously of John Knox, who we think of as courageous and bold, who went, you know, and through Scotland.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: He is said, he was said by his biographers to be the most thin, unlikely, you know, weak-looking, uh famous person who ever lived.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: And yet, he had this boldness that had supernatural power to scare one of the strongest monarchs in the world.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: Her name was Mary, Queen of Scots.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: And at one point, and they had a great conversation, and Mary, Queen of Scots, frustrated, said to John Knox, I have done everything I know.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: I have endured your strong teaching.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: I have listened to you.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: I have shown you many favors.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: I have offered you gifts of money and wealth, and still you torture me.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: I am determined to get my revenge on you.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: And his response was, Madam, I am not my own Ba.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not my own master.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: Another one gives me my message, and that is the reason I speak boldly.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what happens when you submit yourself to God.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: You speak more boldly than you thought that you could.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: There's a well-known statement called the Fellowship of the Unashamed.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: You can look it up online.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: I won't read it all.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's said to have been found in a young African pastor's home.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: It begins with the words, I am a part of the fellowship of the unashamed, and it ends with words like this: My face is set, my gate is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear, I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, divided or delayed.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, and so forth.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: I won't give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, and paid up for the cause of Christ.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's a stimulating and inspiring statement.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe the person who wrote it was as introverted, shy, and young as you are, but they still decided to serve boldly.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now the other part in this book, Paul says, if you want to carry the baton on and advance the cause, you've got to be ready to suffer bravely.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: If you fan into flame that gift, that flame may be used by others to burn you.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: And you need to expect that and you need to endure it.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: And he says that repeatedly in this book.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: Endure suffering along with me as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: 2 Timothy 2, 3.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: Endure suffering along with me as a good soldier.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: Your soldier.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: Soldiers suffer.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not a huge fan of the message, which is a paraphrase of the Bible.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: But here in this verse, I love what he's done with it.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: When the going gets rough, he writes, take it on the chin with the rest of us, the way Jesus did.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: So so soldiers suffer.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: And if we endure, to 12 and 13, we'll also reign with him, he says.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: So endure, endure.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: You should know this, Timothy.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: In the last days there will be very difficult times.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: Chapter 3, verse 1, chapter 3, verse 12.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: And everyone who wants to live godly, a godly life in Christ Jesus, will suffer persecution.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: But you can be confident the Lord will rescue me, chapter 4, 18, from every evil attack and bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: To him be glory forever and ever.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: Suffer, because every person who serves the Lord boldly and speaks out will suffer some kind of persecution.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes famously is this happening today.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: And Thomas Cranmer was sort of a weak-willed soul.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: He wasn't one of these people who stands up for stuff.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so when King Henry VIII dumped his wife and married a younger model and demanded that all the pastors and priests get in line and support it and say they supported it, Thomas Cranmer saw what happened to those who didn't.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: He saw Latimer burned at the stake, and Ridley burned at the stake, and he goes, okay.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so he signed it.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: And under his name, he's a well-known guy back then.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: It went out over London and so forth, and everybody knew.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: But then his conscience smote him.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: He'd open the Bible and go, What am I doing?
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: I only did that to save my life and save my body.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so he recanted.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: He took it back.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_00: He published a statement that said that apologized and said he was wrong, that he could not, he could not in good conscience agree that it was okay for the king to simply dump one wife and have another, which, of course, send him to jail, and then send him to a bonfire to burn.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: And then the crowd is around.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: And Thomas Cranmer, not a brave soul, scared of pain, stood there and in those famous words, he said to everyone, he said, the thing I regret most of all in life, of everything that I've ever said, everything that I have ever done, was when I said that I approved of the king's action, knowing that down deep I was not telling the truth.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: And since this was the hand that wrote those words and got which were then published around the kingdom, it is this hand that will go first into the fire and be burned.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: And he stuck the hand into the fire, and everyone gasped, and it burned.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: And after it was burned, he walked into the fire and joined it.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what gives what gives a man like that, a weak man, not a strong and courageous person by nature, what gives him the supernatural ability to do that?
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: And the answer has to be that the Lord his God was with him, and that if you and I determine that we're going to serve boldly and we're going to suffer bravely no matter what happens, because that's how we take the baton and advance Christ in his kingdom, then God will give us the ability to do that.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: The way he did for Paul.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because now Paul closes by saying, I fought the good fight, I finished the race, I've kept the faith.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: And now it's your turn to carry the baton.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: And he passes it off.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: It was in the last Olympic Games in Berlin that our women were just favored.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: They were so much faster than everyone else.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: Marion Jones had won four golds in the previous Olympics, and she was running the second leg.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: And she comes up and gets ready to hand it to our youngest runner, uh Williams was her name.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: Lauren Williams, and Lauren was so fast.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: And somehow, somehow, as she's slapping it into her hand, uh Lauren's hand moves and they don't make a good connection.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: They try a second time, they try a third time, and then and then the there goes the baton, and Lauren grabs it, and that, but by that time they had they had just stepped, she had stepped out of that area, you know, the permissible area, and the team was disqualified.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's so important, friends, to pass the baton, but it is also vitally important to receive the baton, to be willing to carry the baton.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I know the excuses that you can have.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: You can say, well, I'm too young, or I'm not ready to lead a small group, or I'm not ready to serve in that way, or you know, I just don't feel capable.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: But the Lord may be saying to you this morning, you know, it's time.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: You're really ready.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: You can do it.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: God's not giving us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and a strong mind.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: So let me close with just a word of challenge to each of the groups.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: To those of you who are Paul's and those of you who are Timothy's, to those of you who have come to the place where you know, and and here's the issue.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: I know, I I know uh there are always people who, as they look back on their life, you know, you've retired and you go, Wow, uh I was climbing the ladder of success my whole life, but I've I now realize the ladder was leaning against the wrong wall.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I I I I don't know of one great relationship that I'm leaving.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: I have not passed anything on.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: Some of you are a little different.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you look back on your children, you go, My children are grown, I really can't influence on them anymore, which in some ways is true.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: Though let's say your children didn't trust Christ as their savior, you can still love them.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, you know, you're right that you can't, you know, force them to sit down or come to church or anything like that anymore, but you can still love them and invite them in and be kind to them, you know, and influence them perhaps in that way.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: And then perhaps you have grandchildren, you have nieces, you have nephews.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: I thank God that this fall, our student ministry program, Derek and Gabby and Lori, have a mentoring program, and we have a couple of dozen adults who are being Paul's for a couple of dozen students, high school students, who are Timothy's and they're meeting together regularly this fall to pass on the baton.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: You can do that.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: And you say, Well, most of my life has passed.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I say, you know what?
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: The most important thing isn't how you've lived previously, but it's that's that's how you live at the end.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I learned this especially when I was in high school when I was a crazy fanatic over chess.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: And as I got into this, uh, two of my buddies were in the same class, one was Mike and one was Dave.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_00: And we just started playing every day.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: At lunch, we started playing after school.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_00: It was like a sport to us, so we treated it, we we worked at it that much, and we would read books, and and there were three kinds of books we found.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: There's books about the opening, you know, there are a dozen well-known openings in chess, or two dozen, you know, if if you want to expand.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_00: But I mean, so we'd study openings, and those are the most fun things to study.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: Some of you studied that, openings for chess openings for dummies, and and then, but then there are books about the middle game, which is more complicated, and then there are books about the end game.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: And and and we would remind each other that uh uh famous chess grandmaster, whom you wouldn't know, but but he had said the most important thing, even if you're a young chess player, study the end game.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_00: So we'd get together after school, and sometimes we'd go in game today, and for the next couple hours we'd just put a couple pieces on chess boards, and we would attack each other and figure out in-game strategy.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_00: And when that came helpful, was in my senior year.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: All three of us were seniors, and we were going around each week and we were playing big high schools in the state.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: We're at a small high school just founded called Reynolds High School in Oregon, and we were playing David Douglas and these giant high schools, and we were getting beat because it's five on five, like tennis matches, and there were just three of us.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: And we'd conscript a couple of other kids uh who hadn't played before, whatever.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: And and you'd you'd have to win three out of five to win the match, and sometimes we'd win.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, my senior year, we won enough of those that we ended up being in the top eight in the state in the end, and so we got invited to the state championship.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_00: And got, I was so excited that weekend.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: So we got to drive that weekend across the state.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_00: History teacher took us and and for this for the state championships.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_00: We had to find two other guys, so I taught my brother, little brother Steve, how to play chess in one week, and and so he joined us, and we found another guy, and we knew we wouldn't do very well, but it was so exciting.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_00: And it came down to the last day, and we had lost our matches before that, but I I hadn't lost, which was really fun.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_00: But so we come down to the very last match, and it's it's Saturday afternoon, and I find myself at about 4, 4:30 on Saturday afternoon, and my game is the last game.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: A very tough opponent, and my game, and so everybody else is gathered around.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: There's dozens of people gathered around my table, and I have been outplayed in the middle game.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so I am seriously behind.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: All I have is a king and a couple of pawns, and he has a king and an ugly black knight, a valuable player, and one pawn.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that there is no way that I can beat him unless somehow I can get his knight.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_00: But how am I going to get his knight?
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I know that he desperately wants to get rid of my pawns and win the game, but but so I think if this somehow, if I could succor him into taking one of my pawns at the right time, but then trap him.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think of a way, if I advance my pawn in a certain way, then maybe it'll, as he's thinking, he'll think, oh, I can force this and this and this, and then I can get that pawn free.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so I do it, and my heart palpitates, palpitates.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_00: Will he take the bait?
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_00: And he does take the bait, and I'm so happy, you know, that he takes the bait, and so he makes, puts me in check and moves around and takes the pawn, and then I move in like a spider to a fly, and he goes, ah, you know, and then he knocks over his king and he and he concedes the match, and and it was so much fun.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_00: But I learned at that point that you can, the most important thing is how you finish, and you can make up, you can make up for a very so-so middle life, for a very mediocre life.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_00: In many ways, you can make up by how you finish, by how you finish the race.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: And if now, if now, say your children are gone, but if now you called somebody this week, maybe a niece, a nephew, grandchild, friend, younger person, went to Derek and Gabby and said, I'd be glad to take a high schooler if you have anybody else who wants discipled.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's amazing that you could pass the baton on in a remarkable way.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: And let me say those to those of you on the other side, those of you who need to grab the baton, this book says it's your turn to carry it.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's your turn to carry the baton.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you're a younger person, don't wait any longer.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_00: Grab that baton and carry it on.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_00: I know it's easy to make excuses.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_00: I know it's easy to sit on the sidelines.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_00: I know it's easy to be like, uh, oh, you've heard the joke about the football player who, Calhoun, you know, uh, you know, where the coach is yelling out, they're losing the game, and the other team's just clobbering them and they're having to carry off their players, and he keeps yelling in, give Calhoun our fullback, give Calhoun the ball, you know, he's his best player, give Calhoun the ball.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: Calhoun never gets the ball.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_00: He yells out, give Calhoun the ball, and finally a player in the field yells out, Calhoun says he doesn't want the ball.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: Listen, I know maybe you don't want the ball, but this may be the time.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe this morning God is saying it's your turn.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's your turn to take the ball.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's your turn to carry the baton.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_00: Amen?
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, thank you.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for this book, thank you for the challenge you give us.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_00: Not to just carry a little candle and let the candle go out when we die, like is the view of so many, but you have given us a burning flame, that you have given us a baton that's on fire, the gospel, it is the Bible, it is all these wonderful truths.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_00: What you want is not for us to hide that, but to carry that and to pass that on.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, I ask that you'd give us the ability to pass that on, give us the courage to take it and to carry it on, to serve bravely and suffer bravely and boldly for you in Jesus' name.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: You're dismissed.