Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #20240428 - Unashamed - 2 Timothy 1

Transcript

#20240428 - Unashamed - 2 Timothy 1 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

0:05
Welcome to the study of God's Word, recorded live
0:08
at Calvary Church in Aurora, Colorado. To
0:11
learn more about the many resources available through
0:13
Abound and Grace Media, or to tune into our live
0:16
stream services, visit us online at CalvaryCO .Church,
0:21
or download our free Calvary Church app. Now
0:25
let's open our Bibles and study God's Word. Amen.
0:31
Paul has come to the end of his life. He's
0:34
in prison in Rome in a dungeon. He's
0:36
about ready to be executed, and he's writing his last
0:40
letter. This is his last epistle, and
0:43
it's to Timothy, his beloved Son in the faith.
0:46
Of all of his epistles, of
0:48
all of his letters, this is probably the most
0:51
personal. He's challenging Timothy to be
0:54
unashamed. He's challenging Timothy to be
0:57
confident in the Lord. You would think that Paul would
1:01
be the one who is discouraged, and Timothy
1:03
would be encouraged since Paul's in prison, but it's
1:06
the exact opposite. Paul is the one who's providing
1:10
the encouragement, and Timothy is going through a
1:13
time of discouragement. So let's jump in. Let's
1:16
look at verse one. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
1:20
by the will of God. Paul, who was Saul, he persecuted
1:24
Christians. He had no interest in becoming
1:27
a Christian, but yet God called him as he's on the
1:31
road to Damascus to arrest believers, radically saved,
1:36
sent out to plant churches, and he says, I'm an
1:40
apostle by the will of God. And
1:42
this is a great place to be, is to know God's will
1:45
in your life. Where would God have you to be?
1:47
What would God have you to do?
1:49
He says, I'm an apostle by
1:51
the will of God according to the promise of life,
1:54
which is in Christ Jesus. That's
1:56
why we're here this morning, because Jesus is
1:58
life. He is the bread of life. He
2:01
said of himself, I am the resurrection and the life.
2:05
The enemies come to kill and
2:07
steal and destroy, but Jesus has come to give
2:10
life and to give it more abundantly. Would
2:12
you agree Jesus is the best thing going? He
2:15
is the promise of life. And
2:17
even in prison, Paul's saying Jesus is life.
2:21
Prison cannot take away the
2:23
promise of Jesus being life. To
2:26
Timothy a beloved son, to Timothy a beloved son. What
2:31
encouragement that would be for Timothy to hear that
2:35
he is a son to the apostle Paul. Sometimes
2:38
relationships inside of the body of Christ can even
2:41
become stronger than biological bonds. Timothy
2:45
is not Paul's biological son, but he's a son in
2:50
the faith. And this is an encouragement
2:52
for us to press into relationships. We
2:55
all need a Paul. We all need someone who's
2:57
walked with the Lord a little longer than us, but
3:00
also a Timothy. Look around. I'm
3:02
sure there's someone who is newer in the faith, but
3:05
then a Barnabas. So Barnabas was a peer of
3:07
Paul, and we need peers to be able to do life with.
3:12
Grace, mercy and peace from God
3:15
the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul's
3:19
normal introduction is grace and peace. If
3:21
you study his letters, he would say grace and peace,
3:25
grace always coming first, grace is God giving us
3:29
unearned, undeserved, unmerited favor. But
3:33
here he includes mercy, grace, mercy and peace. And
3:37
mercy is withholding judgment. Also
3:40
the word mercy means committed love, everlasting
3:43
love and some other translations. Mercy
3:47
in the Old Testament is translated as everlasting
3:50
love. There's two times where Paul
3:53
inserts mercy and it's when he's writing Timothy and
3:56
Titus, both younger pastors. And
3:59
I suggest to you this morning, the closer the
4:02
relationship, the more need for mercy. My
4:05
kids, my wife, they know me better than anyone else.
4:08
They know my sin, they know my
4:09
weakness. And so they would approach me
4:12
with mercy. I need to approach them with
4:16
mercy, grace, mercy and peace. What
4:20
I love about this verse is it's more than an
4:22
introduction. Paul is saying to Timothy, may
4:25
God give you a fresh outpouring of grace, mercy
4:29
and peace. Grace doesn't end in our lives
4:32
the moment that we receive Christ as our savior. God
4:35
wants to give you an extra portion of his grace and
4:39
his mercy and peace. He never runs out. It's
4:42
a gift from the Father. In verse three, I thank God
4:46
whom I serve with a pure conscience. Here
4:50
at the end of Paul's life, he's saying my conscience
4:53
is pure. Not that Paul was perfect, but
4:56
he's not hiding anything. He's
4:58
not hiding anything from God or from others. He
5:01
says my conscience is pure as my forefathers did. And
5:06
without ceasing, I remember you in prayers night and
5:10
day. Paul wants to be with Timothy.
5:12
Paul wants to encourage him in
5:14
person, but that's not possible. So
5:16
what does he do? He prays. He's
5:19
praying for Timothy night and day. There's
5:21
consistent prayer. Maybe there's a Timothy in your
5:25
life, a friend, a family member that you know is
5:28
going through a hard time. We
5:30
sometimes feel helpless, but we're not. We
5:32
can go before the throne room of God. I
5:35
think the apostle Paul, if he was going to join us
5:38
for lunch today or come over and have some coffee,
5:41
he would declare to us the power of prayer. And
5:44
Paul's not lying here. He's under the inspiration of
5:47
the spirit. A lot of times we'll tell
5:49
someone, I'm going to pray for you and we don't
5:51
actually mean it. We don't follow through with
5:53
that. I think we need to have
5:55
integrity when we tell someone we're going to pray
5:58
for them. Paul means this. And
5:59
he says, I'm praying for you night and day. Prayer
6:02
is powerful. The battle's won and lost in
6:05
prayer, greatly desiring to see you being mindful of
6:08
your tears that I may be filled with joy. How
6:12
does Paul know that Timothy's struggling? Did
6:16
Timothy send him a text? I don't know the vehicle of
6:20
communication, but somehow Timothy opened up. He
6:24
shared with Paul, I'm going through a hard time. And
6:27
I'm actually to the point of tears in my
6:29
discouragement. And it's hard to admit that. I
6:32
think just as humans, it's hard for us to admit we're
6:35
having a hard time, but also as believers, I think
6:38
there's this extra pressure of like, well, I'm a child
6:41
of God. I'm going to heaven. So
6:43
I shouldn't be going through a hard time. I
6:45
know the promises of God. So
6:47
we keep it to ourselves and it gets worse. I'm
6:51
not saying share it with everyone, but share it with
6:54
the appropriate people in your life. What
6:56
good is a Paul if they don't know that you're
6:59
struggling? So Timothy has shared that
7:01
he's having a hard time and Paul's saying, I desire
7:05
to be with you. I'm mindful of your tears. I
7:08
want to bring you joy when I call to remembrance the
7:12
genuine faith that's in you, which dwell first in
7:16
your grandmother, Lois and your mother, Eunice, and
7:19
I'm persuaded is in you also. Timothy
7:23
needs encouragement. And Paul says, I remember your
7:26
genuine faith. You've got a sincere faith in
7:29
Jesus. And this faith was first in
7:31
your mom and in your grandma. Just
7:34
out of curiosity, how many of you would say that your
7:37
mom impacted your faith in Christ or grandma, a mom
7:40
or a grandma? Okay. A good portion of you.
7:44
Moms and grandmas have such
7:45
impact on our relationship with Christ. We
7:49
know about Timothy's background from the book of
7:52
Acts that his mom was Jewish and his dad was a
7:55
Gentile. And there's no mention of his
7:58
dad being a believer. And that may be your situation
8:01
where your spouse doesn't yet know Christ and you're
8:05
raising your kids and you're wondering, can God
8:07
stand in the gap? Absolutely.
8:09
Look at Timothy. You may be a single parent and
8:13
you're like, can the Lord be faithful in this
8:15
situation? Yes. Continue to love Jesus.
8:18
Have that genuine faith. Moms
8:20
and dads, this is an encouragement to us to live
8:23
out our faith before our kids, this sincere faith in
8:27
Christ. And that faith has been passed
8:29
on to Timothy. Verse six, therefore, I remind
8:33
you, stir up the gift of God, which is in you
8:36
through the laying on of my hands. If
8:39
you're taking notes this morning, we're going to
8:40
focus on four things. And the first is unashamed
8:43
service. Unashamed service, confident service.
8:47
Paul told Timothy, you need to
8:49
stir up this gift, this gift of God that was given
8:53
to you when I prayed for you. There
8:56
was a moment in time where Paul prayed for Timothy,
9:00
laid hands on him, and God granted to him a gift,
9:05
granted to him a calling. But
9:07
something had happened in Timothy's life where this
9:11
gift had gone dormant. And he's challenged. He's
9:15
challenged by Paul to actually stir up this gift.
9:20
Two winners ago, this is our
9:22
second winner. We decided to put in a wood
9:25
stove in our home and heat our house with wood,
9:29
getting frustrated with how high the utilities were
9:31
going up. I grew up in Oregon, so I
9:34
still feel like I'm a lumberjack, right? So
9:37
we've been enjoying having wood heat, and we'll pack
9:40
that wood stove full at night and heat the house.
9:43
And you come in the morning
9:44
and there's coals there, and you want to light a
9:48
fire because it's cold. All you have to do is open it
9:52
up and actually you stir up the coals. You
9:55
take a shovel and you just stir it, and oxygen starts
9:58
to go into those coals and they get hot. You
10:01
put a little bit of kindling in there and boom,
10:03
there you go. All of a sudden you've got a
10:06
raging fire, but those coals need to be stirred
10:10
up. And maybe you feel like you're
10:13
calling your giftedness from the Lord has gone dormant.
10:17
And how in the world do I re
10:19
-engage? You're not as far as you think.
10:22
You're not as far as you think.
10:24
You meet with the Holy Spirit.
10:25
How do you stir up that gift?
10:28
Timothy is asked by God to take
10:30
action here. He needs to stir up the gift.
10:33
How do we stir up the gift?
10:36
We get along with God. We
10:38
come before the Holy Spirit. And
10:40
we say, Lord, this has become dormant in my life.
10:43
I know it. You
10:44
know it. And would you fill me afresh
10:46
with your Holy Spirit? I say yes to that calling
10:50
that you've placed on my life. What
10:52
are some reasons why our gifting and our calling
10:56
might go dormant? I think one of the reasons
10:59
is we get hurt. If you serve believers over
11:04
time, you're going to get hurt because we're sinners
11:07
and we're serving sinners. And
11:09
we expect sometimes to be hurt by people that don't
11:12
know Christ as their Savior. But
11:14
when we get hurt by a believer, someone that's
11:16
close to us, it can take the wind out of our sails.
11:19
And before you know it, we're
11:20
saying, I'm going to be faithful to my calling, but
11:24
I'm going to stop loving people the way that I once
11:27
did. I started youth ministry at
11:30
our church, Rocky Mountain Calvary, just down in
11:33
Colorado Springs in 2000. And
11:35
when I came, I had been hurt. I
11:38
brought some hurt in with me and looking back, I
11:41
think that I was the key component to that hurt. I
11:44
didn't see it that way. I was young. So
11:48
as I started youth pastoring, I had this
11:50
decision that I made and I'd never said it out
11:52
loud, but I'm going to youth pastor maybe do two
11:55
or three years at our church. But
11:59
I'm not going to really love like I once did
12:01
because it just hurts too bad. And
12:05
the high school pastor, Sean Rafferty, he pulled me
12:07
aside and he says, Eric, you're going through the
12:09
motions. You're planning events and you're
12:12
teaching messages, but you're not loving these
12:15
kids. If you moved away, I don't
12:17
think you would miss any of these kids. And
12:21
he was right. Those walls needed to be broken
12:25
down. And I'm so glad that I started
12:27
loving those kids because those kids, I've been able
12:31
to watch those junior high students grow up and do
12:34
some of their weddings and do some of their baby
12:36
dedications and I would have missed out on one of
12:40
the greatest blessings of my life. Has
12:43
hurt caused you to take your gifts, your calling
12:47
and just set it aside. Sometimes
12:50
I think it's fatigue. You serve and you serve and
12:55
you serve and you serve and you're faithful, but
12:58
you get tired and you get wore out. And
13:00
sometimes we say yes to more things than God has
13:03
actually called us to. And one of the ways to
13:06
reengage in your gifting and your calling may to be
13:10
actually to step back for a little while. Six
13:13
weeks, eight weeks, maybe six months and sit at the
13:18
Lord's feet. Allow him to bring you to green
13:22
pastures and still waters and restore your soul.
13:26
Timothy is going to be addressed
13:28
on this issue of fear. Fear
13:30
sometimes gets the best of us and causes us to not
13:33
use our gifts. But gifts, natural gifts are
13:38
God's grace. When you were born, God gifted
13:41
you with certain things that come naturally. Also,
13:44
when you got saved, the scripture tells us that
13:47
you're given spiritual gifts. We
13:49
don't deserve that. What an amazing gift that God
13:52
would bestow upon us. So let's look at verse seven.
13:56
For God has not given us the
13:58
spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a
14:01
sound mind. Fear has gotten the best of
14:04
Timothy. Maybe fear that he too would be
14:07
thrown in prison or that he might get executed for
14:11
the cause of Christ or fear because he's a young
14:14
pastor and no one is going to listen to him. But
14:18
God hasn't given us a spirit of fear. What
14:21
is he replaced power and love and a sound mind, his
14:25
power, his love and a sober mind, a clear mind,
14:29
a mind that is thinking accurately according to the
14:34
truth. I've been thinking a lot the
14:36
last couple years about the story of David and Goliath
14:39
because it seems like in our culture today, Goliath
14:43
is loud. Here in the front range, our
14:47
culture more and more is getting dark. I
14:50
don't have to inform you on that. And
14:53
as believers, it's easy for us to respond to this dark
14:57
culture in fear. Goliath and the Philistines roll up
15:02
on the valley of ELA and Goliath is talking trash
15:05
every day. And what's the army of Israel
15:09
doing? What are the people of God
15:10
doing? They're standing in fear. Nobody,
15:14
not Saul. No one is going to go face
15:17
Goliath. They've got their hands in their
15:18
pockets going, are you going to fight him? Nope,
15:21
I'm not going to fight him. Isn't
15:22
it just a terrible time that we're living in? Have
15:25
you heard about all the laws that are getting
15:27
passed in Colorado? I mean, have you heard about
15:30
this and that? And I'm finding that in
15:32
Ambrineye, my wife and I's conversations with friends
15:35
that are believers. It only takes about 10 or 15
15:38
minutes and now the tone of the conversation is one
15:42
of fear. We're all freaked out as
15:45
believers and we're not seeing things through the
15:48
eyes of faith. Well, David is a shepherd boy,
15:53
but I guess he's also the door -dash guy because his
15:58
dad sends him out with Chick -fil -A. It's
16:02
the Lord's chicken, come on, right? And
16:05
he brings the falafels to his brothers. It's
16:08
like, hey guys, here's the food. He's
16:11
not even really supposed to be there. And
16:13
David over here is Goliath and he says, why are we
16:16
putting up with this? He's defying the living God.
16:22
This isn't an issue of you or
16:24
me. God wants to be glorified. Word
16:29
gets to Saul and Saul is crazy enough to send David
16:33
in. To fight Goliath. Here's
16:36
our champion. We got a teenage boy with red
16:38
hair. Yeah, he's gonna fight you with
16:40
his slingshot. Really? This is the best that
16:44
you've got. And God brings a great victory
16:48
with David with his slingshot and one stone.
16:51
Church, we only need one stone.
16:53
What's that stone? The
16:55
resurrected savior. The stone has been rolled away.
16:58
The gospel, the power of God.
17:00
What really do we have to fear?
17:02
Why are we in a place of
17:04
fear? It may be culture or it may
17:07
be something way more personal in your life
17:09
that's getting the best of you that's causing fear.
17:12
And instead of running away or
17:15
talking in discouragement with our friends, it's time
17:18
to face Goliath. It's time to run towards the
17:20
giant and allow the Lord to bring about a great
17:24
victory. That's unashamed service.
17:52
In verse eight, And so Paul
17:56
says, Timothy, don't be ashamed of Christ's
18:00
suffering. Don't be ashamed of my suffering
18:02
and don't be ashamed of your suffering for the
18:05
gospel's sake. Unfortunately, I think this is still the
18:09
case today. I refer to it as Job's
18:12
friends. If you go through a hard
18:14
time, there will be people that don't know what to do
18:18
with your suffering. And so they tend to back away
18:22
from you and it's easy for them to think, well,
18:24
they've done something wrong. We
18:26
all do it. A friend goes through a hard
18:28
time. We start analyzing, well, what
18:31
did they do wrong that caused this? Now,
18:34
sometimes sin does cause suffering, but sometimes
18:37
it's actually righteousness. Job
18:39
was righteous and he was walking with the Lord, but
18:42
his friends said, well, Job, you must have sinned.
18:47
And I want to encourage you
18:48
today, be confident in suffering. First,
18:51
be confident in Christ's suffering. The
18:53
glory of God is revealed through suffering, the
18:56
cross. Jesus went to the cross. Paul
18:59
is going through suffering. Wear
19:02
your scars proudly for the glory of God. And
19:05
yes, some people won't understand, but trust the
19:08
Lord in that suffering, that unashamed suffering. In
19:13
verse nine, a love verse nine, who has saved us and
19:17
called us with a holy calling, not according to
19:20
our works, but according to his own purpose and grace,
19:23
which God has given to us in Christ Jesus before time
19:28
began. Number three, unashamed grace, the
19:31
grace of God. Timothy needs to be reminded that
19:35
he is called and that he is gifted as a pastor by
19:38
God's grace. It's not based on Timothy's
19:42
works. We know grace for salvation.
19:45
We wouldn't deny grace for
19:46
salvation, but God's call on our life and his
19:49
ability to use us is also an expression of grace. And
19:54
this grace was given, but four time began. God
19:57
knows all things. He knew you would be in the
20:00
kingdom of God. He knew you'd be the child of
20:02
God. And through his grace, he wants
20:04
to use you. Church, brothers and sisters in
20:07
Christ, this is a great way to live. To
20:09
take steps of faith because God is gracious. It's
20:14
not about us. God loves people. He
20:18
wants that person to know the gospel. He
20:20
wants that believer to be encouraged. So
20:23
it's not about whether we did our quiet time today.
20:27
It's not about whether you're
20:29
tithing or not. It's not about you prayed enough
20:33
so you're able then to be able to step out in the
20:36
things of God. We're stepping out based on the
20:39
grace of God. Do we read our Bibles? Do
20:43
we give? Yeah, but we're not trusting in
20:47
our own works when it comes to stepping out into
20:49
the things of God. Maybe you've set your gifting and
20:53
your calling aside because you feel like you have
20:56
failed. Or you feel like, I haven't
20:59
overcome this struggle in my life. We're
21:03
sinners. We're beggars that get to go to
21:05
other sinners and beggars and let them know where we
21:08
found bread. So we're able to stand
21:11
confidently in the grace of God. Oswald
21:14
Chambers put it this way, all throughout history, God
21:17
has chosen and used nobodies because their
21:21
unusual dependence on him made possible the unique
21:25
display of his power and grace. I
21:28
think a lot of us that are given the responsibility
21:33
of choosing leaders in the church would probably miss
21:37
the great leaders of the Bible. I
21:40
mean, how many pastoral search committees are going
21:43
to hire Peter to be their next pastor? Peter
21:47
denied the Lord. Peter is always saying the wrong
21:51
thing at the wrong time. If
21:53
we give Peter the pulpit, what's going to happen? But
21:58
yet God chose Peter in his moment of failure, restored
22:02
him. Peter, in his first message, 3
22:05
,000 people get saved in the book of Acts. That's
22:08
not because of Peter. That's
22:09
because of God's grace. Would
22:12
we choose Paul? I mean, come on, really. All
22:15
right. We've got a murderer as the next
22:18
pastor. Let's go ahead and take a church
22:20
vote. How many want Paul? Wasn't
22:24
this the guy that was just throwing us in prison?
22:27
Really? You want him to be the
22:29
next pastor, but God chose because of grace. You're
22:34
not disqualified. You're qualified in the blood of
22:37
Jesus, and you're able to step out because of God's
22:41
grace. In verse 10, Jesus has been
22:49
revealed in the coming of Jesus. Jesus,
22:54
Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus in human flesh,
22:57
crucified for our sins, buried in rose again, who's
23:00
abolished death and brought life and immortality to
23:04
light through the gospel. Jesus
23:07
didn't just defeat death. Jesus
23:09
abolished death. Death is destroyed through the
23:14
gospel. Immortality is brought into our lives.
23:18
We don't do anything to rush
23:21
our death, hasten our death as believers, but when it's
23:24
our time, praise the Lord. We
23:26
get to go home to be with Jesus. Death
23:28
has been abolished. Paul has this certainty that he
23:32
has eternal life. We have this certainty if
23:35
we're in Christ to know that we have eternal life,
23:39
to which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and a
23:42
teacher of the Gentiles. Paul's
23:45
saying this gospel that brings salvation, that
23:48
brings people out of darkness into light. I've
23:50
been appointed by God to preach. I've
23:53
been appointed by God to church plant to go out and
23:56
be an apostle and be a teacher to the Gentiles.
24:01
This wasn't easy for Paul. He
24:03
didn't gravitate towards the Gentiles. He's
24:05
a Jew. He wanted to see Jews reached,
24:07
but the Jews largely rejecting the gospel, then
24:11
he went to Gentiles. He owned the calling that God
24:14
had for him. This is also a process for us.
24:18
We kind of have an idea of
24:19
what serving the Lord is going to look like. This
24:22
is what God would have me to do. A
24:24
lot of times it's completely different. In
24:27
verse 12, for this reason, I also suffer these things.
24:32
Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed for I know
24:34
whom I've believed and I'm persuaded that he's able to
24:39
keep what I've committed to him until that day. Paul
24:44
says it's for this reason that I suffer these things.
24:48
Paul didn't sign up for the
24:50
easiest life possible, the most comfortable life. He
24:54
realized that there was suffering. There
24:57
was imprisonment. There was being shipwrecked. There
24:59
was being beaten and stoned and left for dead. Also
25:04
that people could come to know Christ as their
25:07
savior. I love what was on the
25:10
screens during announcements. Maybe
25:11
you caught it. Let's make heaven crowded. That's
25:16
realizing God's love for people and saying, yeah,
25:19
I'm willing to suffer. Yeah,
25:21
I'm willing to take steps of faith. I'm
25:23
going to live out my faith at work and share Christ
25:26
in my family. And it could result in
25:29
suffering, but it's worth it. I'm
25:31
signing up for this suffering. And
25:34
Paul is able to trust God with his suffering because
25:37
he says, I know in whom I've believed. Do
25:41
you know in whom you've believed? This
25:43
is why I think communion is so important. Jesus
25:46
tells us to do this often in remembrance of him
25:49
because at communion, we're able to remember the
25:52
goodness of God. That God loved us enough to
25:55
give us his son. And if he gave his son for
25:59
us, how will he not freely give us all good things?
26:03
And this is when we wrestle
26:04
with our emotions and our thoughts and go, Lord, this
26:07
doesn't feel good. This imprisonment doesn't feel
26:11
good. This suffering, I don't
26:13
understand, but I know that you're good. I
26:17
know in whom I've believed so I can trust you. The
26:22
challenge and the invitation of verse 12 is that we
26:27
would commit to him. The burdens, the struggles, the
26:31
sufferings, and then he will keep those burdens,
26:35
but we've got to hand it over to the Lord. Have
26:38
you ever had this happen where it's the 1045 service
26:41
and you hand over a burden to the Lord? But
26:44
by the time you get home into the garage, you've
26:46
taken it back. We have to continue to
26:49
surrender to the Lord. We have to continue to trust
26:52
things to the Lord. We have four kids. God's
26:57
blessed us with four kids, three daughters, and then
27:00
Wyatt is our only son. Our oldest daughter's 20, 18,
27:04
14, and Wyatt's about ready to turn 12. And
27:08
the season of life that I'm in is I'm finding it
27:11
harder than I thought it would be to entrust my
27:14
older two daughters to the Lord. They're
27:17
doing great. They're making great decisions or a
27:20
ton of fun to be around. But
27:22
it's this whole reality that I don't get to
27:24
quarterback all the decisions anymore. I
27:26
don't know if you've realized this or not, but
27:28
pastors like to quarterback decisions. It
27:31
tends to be how a lot of us are wired. My
27:35
20 year old, she's an adult. You
27:37
know, these are her decisions. It's
27:40
her life. And I have to trust her to
27:43
the Lord. I have to respect her enough
27:45
to make those choices. I remember when Hannah was
27:49
learning to ride her bike and all of our kids
27:52
learned to ride their bikes pretty early. The
27:54
training wheels were off. I was holding the back of
27:57
her seat, kind of running alongside of her. She
28:00
had just started. We'd only been at it for
28:03
probably like 15 minutes. And
28:05
I'll never forget it. She leans back, puts her head
28:08
back and she goes, dad, let go. I
28:11
got this. I'm like, no. Like,
28:17
I know what's going to happen if I let go. Like
28:20
she's going to biff, but I got to let go. So
28:23
I let go and sure enough, she did it. She
28:26
got it. She was off. She
28:27
was riding her bike. And that's how she's lived her
28:30
life. And she was 16 and got her
28:33
driver's license. She didn't look in the rear
28:34
view mirror. I was terrified. She
28:37
was not, right? What is it in your life? What
28:41
is it in your life where you've got to put it in
28:43
the hands of God? And this is what I'm learning
28:45
is what I love the most, the safest place for it to
28:49
be is in the hands of God. These
28:52
kids that I love, they've never been in my hand.
28:54
They've always been in God's hand.
28:57
Let God do his job. Put
28:59
it in his hands. And he promises to be able to
29:02
keep it if we entrust it to him. In
29:06
verse 13, hold fast the pattern of sound words,
29:09
which you've heard from me in faith and in love,
29:12
which are in Christ Jesus. This
29:13
is our fourth point in its unashamed perseverance.
29:17
Timothy needs this encouragement. In
29:20
discouragement is to hold fast to the pattern of
29:24
sound words that Paul had taught him. That's
29:26
the word of God. And we need that encouragement.
29:29
Hold on to the word of God,
29:30
especially when we're discouraged. Hold
29:33
on to the precious promises of God. Allow
29:37
God's word to take hold of you. We
29:39
always need to be in the word of God, but especially
29:42
when we're discouraged. Don't
29:44
run away from the word of God. Even
29:46
if your emotions are saying, I don't feel like
29:49
being in the word of God. So
29:50
what? Our emotions cannot rule us.
29:54
No, it is good for me to be
29:55
in the word of God. I can't find what direction
29:59
is north right now, but I know that the word of God
30:02
is true. So I'm going to hold on to
30:04
the pattern of sound words. It's
30:06
perseverance. It's unashamed perseverance. God
30:10
values perseverance in our lives. He'll
30:14
allow difficulty and discouragement in our lives
30:16
to build up perseverance, to make that part of our
30:20
character. Thankfully, we have help in verse 14.
30:24
That good thing which was
30:25
committed to you, keep by the power of the spirit
30:28
who dwells in us. Rely on the power of the
30:30
spirit. Ask for the help of the
30:33
spirit. He's our comforter and our
30:35
teacher and our guide. It's not by power by might, but
30:38
by my spirit says the Lord. This,
30:41
you know, that all those in Asia have turned away
30:44
from me, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
30:48
This is a huge statement because
30:50
Paul spent a ton of time in Asia. Ephesus,
30:55
modern -day Turkey, planting churches, discipling. And
30:58
for whatever reason, these churches turn away from
31:01
Paul. They reject Paul and the guys
31:04
leading the way Phygellus and Hermogenes. Paul
31:07
calls them out and as Paul gets close to going home
31:12
to be with the Lord, it's a lonely place. It's
31:15
a place of rejection, but there's also some
31:18
encouragement. In verse 16, the Lord grant
31:21
mercy to the household of Onesophorus. That's
31:24
quite a name. I've done a lot of baby
31:26
dedications and I've never dedicated a Onesophorus. For
31:31
he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my
31:34
chain, but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out
31:37
very zealously and found me. The
31:40
Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the
31:44
Lord in that day. And you know very well how
31:48
many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus. Not
31:52
everybody's an apostle Paul. In
31:54
fact, there's very few apostle Pauls and Paul is
31:57
not greater than the other members in the body of
32:00
Christ. And Onesophorus meant so much
32:03
to the apostle Paul because when he came to Rome, he
32:07
sought Paul out. He came and visited Paul in
32:10
prison. And also when Paul was in
32:13
Ephesus, he would often refresh him. I
32:16
picture it this way. He probably came with a warm
32:19
cooked meal to Paul. Maybe brought him a cup of
32:23
coffee and listened and prayed with Paul. If
32:26
Paul needed refreshment, how much more so do we need
32:30
refreshment? Are you one that enjoys being
32:34
behind the scenes? Are you one that says, you
32:36
know, I really don't want to get up and give a
32:40
message. There's a place for you. You
32:42
have a calling. You have a service to the Lord
32:44
that is just as important. You're
32:47
an encourager. Do that under the Lord and
32:49
provide that refreshment to others. This
32:55
is what I believe God's heart is for the time that
32:58
we're living in is to bring people to Jesus. I
33:06
don't know when the rapture of the church is going to
33:08
happen, but it seems like we're getting closer. Would
33:10
you agree that we're seeing more signs leading up to
33:13
the second coming of Christ? I
33:16
can tell you this. We are closer to the rapture
33:19
than any other believers have ever been. And
33:22
also you are closer to heaven than you've ever
33:25
been. And I'm closer to heaven than
33:29
I've ever been. I don't think that this is a
33:33
time. This is a moment in human
33:35
history where we're complacent about our
33:39
relationship with Jesus. Where
33:42
we're sitting on the fence with our relationship with
33:44
Jesus, but to press into his love, to press into
33:48
his grace, and a vibrant relationship with Christ,
33:53
and a willingness to say, Lord, send me. I
33:57
want to be used by you. I want my life to count for
34:02
eternity. And maybe you found yourself
34:05
where you're saying, you know, I'm going to love
34:08
Jesus, but I just don't know about people. I'm
34:11
kind of burnt out on people. I've
34:13
lost my heart for unbelievers. I've
34:16
also been hurt too many times by believers. And
34:20
those coals are just kind of sitting there. That
34:23
that gifting, that calling is sitting there. And
34:27
God is here with us. He's in our midst and he loves
34:30
you and he wants to breathe on that gift. He
34:34
wants to breathe on that, that calling. Maybe
34:37
you're saying, I messed up. How
34:39
could I be used by the Lord? Well,
34:42
have that conversation with Peter and Paul. It's
34:45
by God's grace and he wants to use you. Instead
34:50
of just allowing Goliath to yell and scream and
34:54
threaten and for us to be afraid, let's respond in
34:58
faith. Let's respond in, this is a
35:01
great time to be a believer. Yes,
35:02
it's a hard time, but I think this is a great time
35:06
to be a believer. We're watching God wake up
35:10
believers. As you guys came in this
35:12
morning, you came ready to worship and that's
35:15
contagious. God is doing the work. He's
35:19
doing the work here in Calvary Church. He's
35:21
doing a work throughout the front range. Just
35:23
recently went to Peru to the jungles of Peru. God,
35:26
God's doing a work there. He
35:28
is moving and he's working and he is stirring and
35:33
you're a part of that. So let's not run away in
35:35
faith or let's not run away in fear, but let's
35:39
press in in faith and see God bring about a great
35:42
victory. All right, let's stand together
35:44
and let's pray. Father, we come before you and we
35:56
ask that you would stir those gifts and those
35:59
callings of fresh in us. Forgive
36:03
us for setting those gifts aside, setting those
36:07
callings aside. Father, I pray for those that are
36:12
in a place of discouragement that you
36:13
would encourage them, that you would take that spirit
36:16
of fear and you would replace it with power and
36:19
love and a sound mind. Holy
36:22
Spirit, that you would breathe upon us, that you
36:24
would cause our souls to come alive, that you would
36:27
reignite that fire for fellowship with you and
36:32
love for your word and service. And
36:35
we come before you humbly and we know these are
36:38
interesting times that we're living in and we ask that
36:41
you would use us for your glory. Would
36:43
you give us opportunities with unbelievers to love
36:46
and to be a light and to share the gospel? Or
36:50
would you give us an opportunity to serve and
36:52
bless and encourage believers? And
36:54
we do ask that many, many, many people would come to
36:58
know Christ their Savior, that many people would come
37:01
out of darkness into light. And
37:03
even this morning for those that don't know you, that
37:05
you would call them by name. So
37:07
we love you and we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.
37:12
We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible
37:14
study delivered live from the Sanctuary of Calvary
37:17
Church. For prayer, call us at 877 -30
37:21
Grace. That's 877 -304 -7223. To
37:28
listen to this message in its entirety or to join us
37:30
for our live stream services, visit us online
37:33
at CalvaryCO .Church or download our free Calvary
37:38
Church app. Be blessed as you worship
37:40
Jesus this week.