WEBVTT 00:00:03.867 --> 00:00:05.450 20, 25, ready or not. 00:00:05.450 --> 00:00:10.951 Here it is right and in the next weeks to come, the elder team. 00:00:10.951 --> 00:00:19.175 We've discussed and we're going to be talking about some exciting things for this new year, but today they gave me the chance to kind of do a one-off sermon. 00:00:19.175 --> 00:00:31.245 That's been building in my heart for quite some time and it's going to be all about let me ask you a question what's devastating to you, like? 00:00:31.245 --> 00:00:32.848 What is it that really bothers you? 00:00:32.848 --> 00:00:50.488 When I think about the fact that so many believers or at least believers in name, and Christian leaders have fallen by the wayside and now are at the point to where they're even denying that Jesus is real, that's devastating to me. 00:00:50.488 --> 00:00:59.671 The local news is hard to watch, of course, but whenever I hear of those things or observe those things, it's even more difficult to me. 00:00:59.671 --> 00:01:12.828 In some ways, my heart's cry for myself, my family and for all of us is that, in the words of Jesus, we would be those who endure to the end and are saved. 00:01:12.828 --> 00:01:17.884 That we would endure to the end and that we would be saved. 00:01:17.884 --> 00:01:29.795 The title of today's message is Finishing Well, I want to welcome our online audience, which is probably pretty robust today, so we're glad that you're here with us online and look forward to seeing you in the very near future. 00:01:30.421 --> 00:01:37.748 Let's turn to 2 Timothy 4, verses 5 through 8, and that's going to be our passage that we're going to read from and study today. 00:01:37.748 --> 00:01:54.552 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 00:01:54.552 --> 00:01:58.947 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race. 00:01:58.947 --> 00:02:02.793 I have kept the faith Henceforth. 00:02:02.793 --> 00:02:16.704 There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. 00:02:16.704 --> 00:02:18.127 Let's pray this morning. 00:02:18.127 --> 00:02:19.389 Father. 00:02:19.389 --> 00:02:22.213 I thank you for this day that you have made. 00:02:22.213 --> 00:02:24.289 We rejoice in it and we're glad in it. 00:02:24.289 --> 00:02:42.729 We thank you for the turning of a calendar, even though it may seem insignificant, but we know, god, that you're a God of times and seasons, and so we thank you for the refreshing of new days and new times, new mercy and new grace that are available to us every morning even. 00:02:42.729 --> 00:03:03.991 And, father, we pray that, as we hear this word this morning, that we would be of those who do not shrink back, who do not sit down, who do not fall away, but we would be of those who continue to walk and run and fight and stand, and that we would finish well In Jesus' name. 00:03:03.991 --> 00:03:05.492 I pray Amen. 00:03:06.774 --> 00:03:10.884 When I was young, I lived in Wyoming and my dad was a hunter. 00:03:10.884 --> 00:03:17.463 I want to make it clear I was not a hunter, but my dad was, and so I got to go with him quite a bit of times. 00:03:17.463 --> 00:03:26.252 The reason that I wasn't a hunter is because one time, when I was about eight years old, my dad had gotten me a new 10 pump pellet gun. 00:03:26.252 --> 00:03:27.323 You know what I'm talking about. 00:03:27.323 --> 00:03:32.503 You could cock it 10 times and if you did, it was powerful, right, more powerful than just one cock. 00:03:32.503 --> 00:03:42.893 So I cocked it 10 times and I pointed it up into a tree and I nailed a squirrel, and the squirrel fell to the ground and I ran over to it expecting for it to be dead. 00:03:42.893 --> 00:03:44.501 And what was it doing? 00:03:44.501 --> 00:03:52.027 It broke my heart. 00:03:52.027 --> 00:03:55.290 It literally broke my heart, and I know that doesn't seem very manly. 00:03:55.290 --> 00:04:13.379 Some of you would have just stepped on it or picked it up and wrenched its neck, you know, but for me it was devastating, but still, I would go hunting with my dad, and so one time we went, and overnight it snowed a lot and so we were staying in a camper. 00:04:13.379 --> 00:04:34.161 We got up and got dressed and I, looking like Ralphie's little brother from a Christmas story, stepped out of the camper and began to try to trudge through the snow, only to realize and to have this fear that I would never be able to keep up with my dad, and because he was already several paces ahead of me. 00:04:34.161 --> 00:04:36.026 And then something miraculous happened. 00:04:36.026 --> 00:04:41.064 He turned around and he looked at me and he said Tyler, walk in my footsteps. 00:04:41.064 --> 00:04:58.206 And as soon as I began to do that, I realized something he was doing the hard work, he was compressing the snow underneath his feet, and so that every step that I took then I wasn't sinking in like I had been sinking in before. 00:04:59.548 --> 00:05:07.045 In some ways, the story that we just read this passage that we just read from the Bible, which is true relates to that. 00:05:07.045 --> 00:05:17.055 You can look at Paul speaking to his son in the faith, timothy, and giving him sage advice from someone who had been there and done that. 00:05:17.055 --> 00:05:28.382 He's saying to Timothy walk in my footsteps, walk in my footsteps. 00:05:28.382 --> 00:05:29.144 And what is Paul attempting to do? 00:05:29.144 --> 00:05:30.386 He's attempting to show him the way to finish. 00:05:30.386 --> 00:05:34.173 Well Now, at first glance, when we read this passage, it seems sort of out of place. 00:05:34.173 --> 00:05:41.843 What I mean by that is because Paul usually, when he's speaking about himself, is exercising an overabundance of humility. 00:05:41.843 --> 00:05:49.884 Talking about you know how sinful he is, how wrong he has been, how he's nothing to be praised. 00:05:49.884 --> 00:06:04.413 And then all of a sudden, in this passage it's I, I, I, and it seems really out of place, unless you think about it in terms of, like I said before him, setting footsteps for Timothy and for others to be able to follow in. 00:06:04.413 --> 00:06:11.309 He's saying to Timothy like a good coach you can do this, you can do this. 00:06:11.309 --> 00:06:12.711 Look at my life. 00:06:12.711 --> 00:06:21.843 By the grace of God, I've been able to do what I'm asking you to do and if you will follow in these footsteps, you'll be able to do it as well. 00:06:23.245 --> 00:06:27.613 Paul was not content to have it end with him. 00:06:27.613 --> 00:06:35.064 I know this seems like a very strange message to have at the beginning of the year, talking about finishing. 00:06:35.064 --> 00:06:48.471 It seems like we should be talking about setting goals and priorities and you know what's the word where you say you're going to lose weight, resolutions and all those things, areolutions and all those things have their place. 00:06:48.471 --> 00:07:03.029 But I really believe and in fact this has been building in me for a couple of years I really believe that God wants us to think about finishing well that which we have begun, and I want to encourage all of us with that here this morning. 00:07:03.029 --> 00:07:11.634 Let's dive in deeper and see what the Holy Spirit is saying through Paul to Timothy and also to all other Christ followers, including us. 00:07:11.634 --> 00:07:18.309 So, number one, in order to finish well, you need to what you need to have a proper perspective of death. 00:07:18.309 --> 00:07:20.665 Oh yeah, we're going there. 00:07:20.665 --> 00:07:25.771 In order to finish well, you need to have a proper perspective of death. 00:07:25.771 --> 00:07:28.048 Now, in no way am I trying to make light of that. 00:07:28.048 --> 00:07:38.161 I know what it's like to feel the sorrow of having lost someone that's very close to you, and the heartache and the hurt and all of that that comes through that. 00:07:38.161 --> 00:07:49.387 But I want you to know also that we, as believers, should have a hope that's different than the rest of the world, because there is something beyond, and I'm not going to get ahead of myself. 00:07:49.387 --> 00:07:51.072 I'm already feeling it. 00:07:51.072 --> 00:07:53.466 I'm going to rush ahead, so let me stick with it. 00:07:53.466 --> 00:07:55.630 We need a proper perspective of death. 00:07:55.630 --> 00:08:04.829 Look at what Paul says, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 00:08:04.829 --> 00:08:08.595 Wow, what strong words. 00:08:09.615 --> 00:08:17.824 At this time, paul is back in a Roman prison now for the second time, and, instead of being on house arrest, he's in the dungeon, he's chained. 00:08:17.824 --> 00:08:24.656 There's no way that, unless, unless God somehow intervenes, there's no way that he's walking away from this one. 00:08:24.656 --> 00:08:33.322 And we have Nero who's waiting for an opportune time to not only have Paul put to death, but he's actually going to behead him. 00:08:33.322 --> 00:08:49.505 And so Nero's waiting in the wings, and Paul can feel almost the hot breath of Nero as he's coming to persecute and to put an end to him because he had been, in his opinion, such an enemy of Rome. 00:08:49.505 --> 00:08:51.471 And was he an enemy of Rome? 00:08:51.471 --> 00:08:52.794 Paul loved Rome. 00:08:52.794 --> 00:08:54.779 He gave himself for Rome. 00:08:54.779 --> 00:09:02.229 He spoke to them of the truth of Jesus Christ, and it was for Jesus's sake that he was going to be put to death. 00:09:04.371 --> 00:09:08.275 What was on Paul's heart as he realized this reality? 00:09:08.275 --> 00:09:17.149 As he was in chains, as he was waiting for the order to be given for his life to end, going home? 00:09:17.149 --> 00:09:21.220 He was thinking about going home. 00:09:21.220 --> 00:09:24.029 He was thinking about seeing Jesus. 00:09:24.029 --> 00:09:25.519 He wasn't thinking about going to Jerusalem or Tarshish, his childhood home. 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:25.783 He was thinking about seeing Jesus. 00:09:25.783 --> 00:09:28.293 He wasn't thinking about going to Jerusalem or Tarshish, his childhood home. 00:09:28.293 --> 00:09:30.735 He was thinking about going to heaven. 00:09:30.735 --> 00:09:45.774 He was considering what it would be like when he would take his final breath here in this life and take his next breath in heaven, looking at the one who bled and died for him. 00:09:45.774 --> 00:09:51.086 You see, paul understood that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. 00:09:51.086 --> 00:09:58.048 Do you believe that this morning, if we're going to finish well, we need to have a proper perspective on death itself? 00:09:58.048 --> 00:10:01.724 Paul maintained this kind of attitude in Philippians 1.21. 00:10:01.724 --> 00:10:06.793 He said, for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 00:10:06.793 --> 00:10:17.025 In other words, whatever the Lord's will is, whatever his purpose is, whatever he wants from me, I am willing for that to occur and I'm ready. 00:10:17.025 --> 00:10:19.471 And I'm ready for it. 00:10:20.832 --> 00:10:31.912 Now, what would be the natural reaction of most of us if we found ourselves in the same position that Paul was in, in a prison, somewhere chained up, getting ready to lose our lives? 00:10:31.912 --> 00:10:36.491 It was imminent, moments away, days away, maybe minutes away. 00:10:36.491 --> 00:10:38.047 What would be our attitude? 00:10:38.047 --> 00:10:51.547 Can I maybe posit that possibly we would consider ourselves victims, maybe posit that possibly we would consider ourselves victims, that we would blame everyone else, and especially God. 00:10:51.547 --> 00:10:56.481 Because we're victims, we've been put in this position unfairly unjustly, by the way. 00:10:56.481 --> 00:10:58.826 That's the definition of persecution. 00:10:58.826 --> 00:11:03.984 Persecution is not fair, or just it's unjust and unfair. 00:11:03.984 --> 00:11:07.543 Paul is put in this position and he doesn't blame. 00:11:07.543 --> 00:11:20.448 He's not looking to cast blame, he's not looking to blame God, he's not looking to try to change his circumstance, he's not looking to do anything except for to focus on what is coming, not on what now is. 00:11:20.448 --> 00:11:31.972 And yet, even in the middle of all of that proper perspective, he's writing to Timothy because he has some things that he wants to say before it is the final end. 00:11:34.020 --> 00:11:38.972 What was this drink offering that Paul was talking about In the books of Exodus and Leviticus? 00:11:38.972 --> 00:11:49.027 Wine was taken and poured over the sacrifice, which, of course, would have been really hot because it was on a brazen altar with fire that was underneath it. 00:11:49.027 --> 00:11:54.826 You know exactly what would happen when you pour wine on a very hot sacrifice and on an altar. 00:11:54.826 --> 00:11:55.708 What is going to happen? 00:11:55.708 --> 00:12:01.687 It's going to hit that and steam up and dissipate and disappear. 00:12:01.687 --> 00:12:05.674 And that's what Paul's vision is. 00:12:05.674 --> 00:12:08.961 The drink offering is going up in steam. 00:12:08.961 --> 00:12:10.648 This is exactly what Paul is saying. 00:12:10.648 --> 00:12:17.206 I have just poured out my life as a drink offering on the sacrifice of Christ. 00:12:17.206 --> 00:12:23.302 I'm going to diminish and be removed, and yet the sacrifice will still remain. 00:12:23.302 --> 00:12:31.370 What a beautiful image of having the right attitude and the right perspective when it comes to death. 00:12:31.370 --> 00:12:38.087 Paul's life would soon disappear and all that could be seen was Christ, and that's exactly the way Paul wanted it. 00:12:40.823 --> 00:12:46.551 So we live in tension between understanding that life is temporary, but we're also still alive. 00:12:46.551 --> 00:12:48.427 Aren't you thankful for life this morning? 00:12:48.427 --> 00:12:50.707 Nothing wrong with being thankful for life. 00:12:50.707 --> 00:12:52.807 We should be thankful, right? 00:12:52.807 --> 00:13:01.414 The wisdom is that you understand that your days are numbered, but foolishness is to live as if there is no tomorrow. 00:13:01.414 --> 00:13:14.210 I remember when we were growing up, we used to hear every Sunday that Jesus was coming back, and it wasn't just that he was coming back in some point in time, it was he's coming back today. 00:13:14.210 --> 00:13:20.649 If you find yourself in the movie theater tomorrow when Jesus comes back, enjoy the rest of the movie. 00:13:20.649 --> 00:13:37.177 If you're in the bowling alley when Jesus returns, try for a strike or a spare. 00:13:37.177 --> 00:13:41.380 But how many of you know that? 00:13:41.380 --> 00:13:43.085 Just because it was emphasized in such a way doesn't take away its importance. 00:13:43.085 --> 00:13:47.033 Jesus is going to come back, but in the meantime we need to live. 00:13:47.033 --> 00:13:50.062 We're here to live. 00:13:50.062 --> 00:13:53.490 He has us here to live until we die. 00:13:53.490 --> 00:14:08.073 I know this all sounds very rudimentary and elementary and doesn't need to be said, but I'm telling you, sometimes we forget to live, we forget to breathe, we forget to be because we're so concerned about the end. 00:14:12.041 --> 00:14:16.412 Second thing in order to finish, well, you need an honest appraisal of your life. 00:14:16.412 --> 00:14:19.044 Are you ready to go there with me this morning? 00:14:19.044 --> 00:14:21.919 Are you ready to take an honest appraisal of your life? 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:29.291 Paul says I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 00:14:29.291 --> 00:14:41.481 Can you say, at this stage of your life, that you have fought the good fight, that you have finished, that you're finishing the race, that you have kept the faith? 00:14:41.481 --> 00:14:57.442 Paul uses three expressions, metaphors, to communicate to Timothy what it looks like to finish strong, and the first one is simply this Life is a battle that must be fought. 00:14:57.442 --> 00:15:00.626 Life is a battle that must be fought. 00:15:00.626 --> 00:15:02.750 I have fought the good fight. 00:15:02.750 --> 00:15:04.232 Paul has been a soldier. 00:15:04.232 --> 00:15:05.715 He's been a good soldier. 00:15:05.715 --> 00:15:07.177 There's been a battle to be fought and a victory to be fought. 00:15:07.177 --> 00:15:07.878 I have fought the good fight. 00:15:07.878 --> 00:15:08.519 Paul has been a soldier. 00:15:08.519 --> 00:15:09.080 He's been a good soldier. 00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:14.559 There's been a battle to be fought and a victory to be won. 00:15:15.580 --> 00:15:16.543 Now let me give you a little warning here. 00:15:16.543 --> 00:15:19.232 How many of you have known people that every conversation you have with them is about the battle that they're in? 00:15:19.232 --> 00:15:33.480 We can get off kilter in our thinking and become so battle-minded that that's all we're talking about and we're looking for demons behind every tree and we're not shopping at certain stores. 00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:42.823 I'm not trying to say, I'm not trying to denigrate the choices that we make based on what we feel is righteous, or just not trying to denigrate that. 00:15:42.823 --> 00:15:49.715 But I'm saying we can become so battle-minded that that's all we think about and all we talk about, and we're no earthly good. 00:15:49.715 --> 00:15:52.423 So be careful. 00:15:52.423 --> 00:15:53.765 Be careful with that. 00:15:53.765 --> 00:16:00.528 But far too many other people, unfortunately, don't consider the capital E enemy of their souls at all. 00:16:00.528 --> 00:16:09.004 They don't think about him at all, and so because of that, they become easy prey for the enemy to attempt to sideline. 00:16:09.004 --> 00:16:15.142 How many of you know, there is an enemy in this world that hates God and hates his children. 00:16:15.142 --> 00:16:21.347 He's not a game to be played. 00:16:21.347 --> 00:16:23.711 He's not a friend to be had. 00:16:23.711 --> 00:16:35.572 He is a wicked, evil, distorted, sick creature who only cares about bringing destruction. 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:43.802 In his first letter to Timothy, paul begins the idea of the good fight in 1 Timothy 1, verses 18 and 19. 00:16:43.802 --> 00:16:47.311 This charge I entrust to you, timothy my child. 00:16:47.311 --> 00:16:47.952 Listen to that. 00:16:47.952 --> 00:17:00.960 You know Paul was never married, as far as we know, and he didn't have any children, and so Timothy became to him like his son and they were together in Ephesus, kind of in the beginning of Paul's ministry. 00:17:00.960 --> 00:17:06.133 And then Timothy took over as the pastor in Ephesus and was a constant. 00:17:06.133 --> 00:17:13.366 Paul was in constant communication with him and Paul was always writing to him encouragement Don't be afraid, timothy, you can do this. 00:17:13.907 --> 00:17:41.050 I feel like Timothy had some grave concerns about his own ability to do what God had called him to do, and Paul was constantly trying to help him with that and coach him up To you, timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, may fight the good fight, holding faith and a good conscience. 00:17:41.050 --> 00:17:42.211 What is the fight about? 00:17:42.211 --> 00:17:54.912 Holding on to your trust in a living God, holding on to hope in a living God, holding on to faith when there seems like there's no reason for it. 00:17:54.912 --> 00:18:07.050 The overall battle is trusting God, even when Satan and life itself throws relational, financial, vocational, physical and emotional challenges your way. 00:18:07.050 --> 00:18:14.991 Satan's number one goal is to try to get you to doubt God. 00:18:16.260 --> 00:18:21.048 Did God really say we see it from the very beginning in the garden of Eden? 00:18:21.048 --> 00:18:28.950 If he can take the word of God and twist it, if he can manipulate, if he can attempt to control, please hear me. 00:18:28.950 --> 00:18:30.605 I've really felt strongly this week. 00:18:30.605 --> 00:18:31.429 I needed to say it. 00:18:31.429 --> 00:18:35.971 Don't be playing with spiritual things. 00:18:35.971 --> 00:18:48.463 There are so many television shows now that are about ghost hunting and looking at the spiritual realm from a dark side. 00:18:48.463 --> 00:18:59.666 My friends, we as believers should have nothing to do with that and we should especially not let our children be involved in watching that stuff or participating in it. 00:18:59.666 --> 00:19:01.230 Let's be careful. 00:19:01.230 --> 00:19:03.374 Let's pay attention. 00:19:07.141 --> 00:19:11.311 Paul says to Timothy in the first verse that we read always be sober minded. 00:19:11.311 --> 00:19:15.971 Paul encourages his son in the faith concerning his thought life. 00:19:15.971 --> 00:19:18.028 Think about the right things, timothy. 00:19:18.028 --> 00:19:19.924 Where he chooses to focus. 00:19:19.924 --> 00:19:23.250 He needs to stay in a constant state of readiness. 00:19:23.250 --> 00:19:29.647 We are in the greatest fight of our lives and we need to be ready. 00:19:29.647 --> 00:19:34.430 We need to stay ready for whatever it is that might come. 00:19:34.430 --> 00:19:36.032 Amen. 00:19:38.821 --> 00:19:40.185 What kind of readiness is that? 00:19:40.185 --> 00:19:47.251 Remember Gideon, and God called him to do something that he believed there was no way that he could accomplish. 00:19:47.251 --> 00:19:52.968 Similar to Timothy, similar to you and I, I feel like I am Gideon at times. 00:19:52.968 --> 00:19:55.847 And so God says I'm going to give you an army. 00:19:55.847 --> 00:19:56.884 And he sends all of these. 00:19:56.884 --> 00:20:01.823 All of these people come and and and he says okay, here's how we're going to test them. 00:20:01.823 --> 00:20:03.569 Tell them to go drink water from the river. 00:20:03.569 --> 00:20:06.861 And they go drink water from the river. 00:20:06.861 --> 00:20:12.469 And he says the ones who keep their eyes up while they're drinking, those are your guys. 00:20:12.469 --> 00:20:17.076 Out of the thousands that were there, you know how many were there? 00:20:17.076 --> 00:20:22.006 Were drinking like that, with their eyes open 300. 00:20:22.006 --> 00:20:24.809 300. 00:20:24.809 --> 00:20:28.375 And we can read on the rest of the story. 00:20:28.375 --> 00:20:33.749 We know what God did with that little army he defeated the enemy and actually turned the enemy against itself. 00:20:42.500 --> 00:20:44.587 We need to be in this state of readiness. 00:20:44.587 --> 00:20:47.619 We need to pay attention to our own soul and the fleshly desires that we need to resist. 00:20:47.619 --> 00:20:52.550 Timothy needs to ignore the pull of the world's culture to compromise. 00:20:52.550 --> 00:21:06.686 I'm telling you, we live in a day and an hour and it's only going to increase, that we are going to be almost required, in order to fit in to certain categories and within certain circles, to compromise what we believe. 00:21:06.686 --> 00:21:18.513 My friends, it's not my belief, it's not your belief, it's his belief and it's his truth, and we must stand for righteousness. 00:21:18.513 --> 00:21:34.009 Paul is saying to Timothy, without saying it straightforwardly he used to resist the enemy who always comes to steal, kill and destroy. 00:21:34.490 --> 00:21:39.150 Look at this passage from 1 Peter and it says it clearly 1 Peter 5, 8 and 9. 00:21:39.150 --> 00:21:47.326 Be sober-minded that same word from the Greek that we talked about, that Paul was saying to Timothy always be sober-minded. 00:21:47.326 --> 00:21:49.268 It's here as well in 1 Peter 5. 00:21:49.268 --> 00:21:54.231 Be sober-minded, pay attention, keep your eyes open, be watchful. 00:21:54.231 --> 00:22:00.229 Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. 00:22:00.229 --> 00:22:09.240 Resist him firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 00:22:09.260 --> 00:22:26.125 This is why I believe it's so important for Christians, and especially young people, to go to foreign cultures, to go to places, to third world countries, and to observe the grit and the fortitude of believers within those places where it's very difficult to stand for Christ. 00:22:26.125 --> 00:22:33.527 We need to know that our brothers and sisters around the world are suffering for this. 00:22:33.527 --> 00:22:35.873 They're dying for the truth. 00:22:35.873 --> 00:22:37.246 Are we willing to live for it? 00:22:37.246 --> 00:22:42.689 How many of you know we can't win this battle on our own. 00:22:44.259 --> 00:22:49.549 Ephesians 6, 10 through 12, paul says finally, be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might. 00:22:49.549 --> 00:22:55.272 Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 00:22:55.272 --> 00:22:58.209 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. 00:22:58.209 --> 00:23:03.708 Your husband's not the problem, your wife's not the problem. 00:23:03.708 --> 00:23:06.846 Your children are not the problem. 00:23:06.846 --> 00:23:12.828 Well, sometimes your boss is not the problem. 00:23:12.828 --> 00:23:30.236 We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 00:23:30.236 --> 00:23:37.570 We are an army and we are told to stand as soldiers in that army. 00:23:37.570 --> 00:23:39.335 We are to be prepared. 00:23:39.335 --> 00:23:47.594 Satan, as chaotic as he is, has some order and organization to his methodology. 00:23:47.594 --> 00:23:58.444 We, as believers, need to get with the program and then we need to make sure that we are aligned with God's way of doing things. 00:23:59.587 --> 00:24:02.113 Here's the truth that I want you to walk away from with this. 00:24:02.113 --> 00:24:05.387 The battle ultimately belongs to who? 00:24:05.387 --> 00:24:10.202 To the Lord, so ask yourself. 00:24:10.202 --> 00:24:12.631 I'm going to ask you a series of questions as we go through this. 00:24:12.631 --> 00:24:15.387 Number one have I been fighting or have I gone AWOL? 00:24:15.387 --> 00:24:18.163 What is AWOL? 00:24:18.163 --> 00:24:19.647 Absent without leave? 00:24:19.647 --> 00:24:22.306 Are we hiding somewhere? 00:24:22.306 --> 00:24:31.394 Have we left our brothers and sisters in the church behind because they're not perfect and we are? 00:24:31.394 --> 00:24:38.869 Have you made a decision to follow Jesus and then chosen to live life for yourself and your own desires? 00:24:38.869 --> 00:24:50.835 Friends, let's pick up the armor again and let's stand together and stand strong in the evil day. 00:24:50.835 --> 00:24:58.413 Let us fight the good fight and finish well, life is a race that we run to finish. 00:24:59.119 --> 00:25:01.424 Paul says I have finished the race. 00:25:01.424 --> 00:25:05.413 You notice what he emphasizes Finishing is what matters. 00:25:05.413 --> 00:25:09.775 This is not a race of placement First, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth Aren't you glad? 00:25:09.775 --> 00:25:12.682 Third, fourth, fifth, sixth, aren't you glad? 00:25:12.682 --> 00:25:14.865 It's not a race like that. 00:25:14.865 --> 00:25:16.429 It's not. 00:25:16.429 --> 00:25:19.574 It's a race of endurance. 00:25:19.574 --> 00:25:23.092 And guess who wins? 00:25:23.092 --> 00:25:36.928 Everyone who finishes, everyone who finishes the race that God has placed us in, that we are in, who finishes it, who endures to the end, will be saved. 00:25:36.928 --> 00:25:41.174 This was the cry of Paul's heart. 00:25:41.174 --> 00:25:47.762 We see this as Paul is getting ready to go to Jerusalem, knowing that imprisonment and afflictions await him. 00:25:47.762 --> 00:25:54.666 He had received several words from God about the outcome of his life if he went to Jerusalem and listen to what he says. 00:25:54.666 --> 00:26:05.582 But I do not account my life of any value, nor as precious to myself. 00:26:05.582 --> 00:26:19.796 If only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God, of God, paul understood what it meant to stay in the race, to finish the race. 00:26:19.796 --> 00:26:27.584 You see, my friends, finishing the race is the primary proof of true conversion. 00:26:27.604 --> 00:26:30.672 So many times we talk about how do you know if somebody is a believer or not? 00:26:30.672 --> 00:26:37.344 You know if somebody is a believer if they endure to the end, if they finish. 00:26:37.344 --> 00:26:39.028 Well, the beginning of the race is important. 00:26:39.028 --> 00:26:40.049 You have to get in it. 00:26:40.049 --> 00:26:51.633 And the middle part of the race is important too, because that's where all of the things get done in our hearts, in our lives, in community and through evangelism and all of the things that happen in the in-between. 00:26:51.633 --> 00:26:57.010 But, friends, if you're going to focus on anything, let's focus on finishing this race. 00:26:57.451 --> 00:27:08.551 Well, paul says to his protege, timothy you're going to endure suffering. 00:27:08.551 --> 00:27:11.843 Make no mistake about it. 00:27:11.843 --> 00:27:14.548 If you are to follow Christ, you will suffer. 00:27:14.548 --> 00:27:25.493 If you don't believe me Jesus himself said it In this world, what you will have trouble, but be of good cheer. 00:27:25.493 --> 00:27:25.795 Why? 00:27:25.795 --> 00:27:29.045 For I have overcome the world. 00:27:29.045 --> 00:27:33.250 2 Corinthians 4, verses 7-12,. 00:27:33.372 --> 00:27:35.955 Every time I read these words from Paul, I'm convicted. 00:27:35.955 --> 00:27:40.920 His attitude towards the suffering that he endured was amazing. 00:27:40.920 --> 00:27:52.009 And every time I read these words, too, I think of is it IHOP or the Waffle House that has the hash browns that you can throw all the stuff into Waffle House, smothered, hammered, slapped? 00:27:52.009 --> 00:27:53.152 You know all the different. 00:27:53.152 --> 00:27:57.423 I don't even know what they are, but you know what I'm talking about. 00:27:57.423 --> 00:28:03.689 Every time I read this and I think about what Paul said he went through, I think, man, that man was an ultimate hash brown. 00:28:03.689 --> 00:28:08.961 I'll get that out of your head while I read the word of God, please. 00:28:08.961 --> 00:28:18.756 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 00:28:18.756 --> 00:28:23.909 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. 00:28:23.909 --> 00:28:27.856 Perplexed but not driven to despair. 00:28:27.856 --> 00:28:42.471 Persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed, always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 00:28:42.471 --> 00:28:51.444 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus's sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our. 00:28:51.464 --> 00:29:07.964 This race that we're in is not a sprint, it's not even a marathon. 00:29:07.964 --> 00:29:08.548 You know what it is. 00:29:08.548 --> 00:29:10.046 It's more like a relay race. 00:29:10.046 --> 00:29:19.810 It's more like a relay race In the ancient Olympic games, which Paul was probably referring to as he uses these metaphors. 00:29:19.810 --> 00:29:23.260 They began with a relay race Before any of the other competitions happened. 00:29:23.260 --> 00:29:28.823 People participated in this from different countries and different nations and tribes and languages. 00:29:28.823 --> 00:29:32.531 They all participated in this relay race and that's how the thing began. 00:29:32.531 --> 00:29:42.273 That was the beginning of the competition, and I believe that in some ways, paul's referring to that kind of a race as he talks here in 2 Timothy 4. 00:29:43.560 --> 00:29:55.289 And he's using this metaphor when speaking to Timothy my friends, if you walk away without remembering anything else this morning, I hope you remember this we are here to pass the baton. 00:29:55.289 --> 00:29:59.883 We are here to pass the baton. 00:29:59.883 --> 00:30:05.510 Since when did life become solely about us? 00:30:05.510 --> 00:30:08.695 Not in Christianity. 00:30:08.695 --> 00:30:12.063 Not in Christianity. 00:30:12.063 --> 00:30:16.053 That which we've been freely given, we're supposed to. 00:30:16.053 --> 00:30:19.930 What Freely received, we should freely give. 00:30:19.930 --> 00:30:24.688 Paul told Timothy do the work of an evangelist. 00:30:24.688 --> 00:30:26.172 Who's next? 00:30:26.172 --> 00:30:28.306 That's what Paul's saying to Timothy. 00:30:28.306 --> 00:30:29.765 Who's next? 00:30:29.765 --> 00:30:31.286 Who's your Timothy? 00:30:31.286 --> 00:30:33.746 Who's your next? 00:30:33.746 --> 00:30:36.327 Who are you encouraging in their faith? 00:30:36.327 --> 00:30:37.865 Who are you discipling? 00:30:37.865 --> 00:30:39.385 Who are you coaching up? 00:30:39.385 --> 00:30:40.806 Who are you helping? 00:30:40.806 --> 00:30:51.829 What if you're like Paul chose to think of our lives in terms of passing the baton onto the next members and the next runners in the race? 00:30:52.321 --> 00:30:56.503 I think that is what Paul, here in the forefront of his mind, was thinking about. 00:30:56.503 --> 00:31:20.305 Timothy, he knows that his time is short and it's like he's got his arms stretched out with a baton in his hand and, as Timothy has his hand on it as well, and they're running together and Paul's going to let go of that baton and Timothy's going to stretch his hand back and somebody else is going to grab a hold of it and they're going to run. 00:31:20.305 --> 00:31:31.528 It does require individual faith and trust in Jesus to become a Christian, but after that, it's all about family. 00:31:31.528 --> 00:31:40.945 If we live the rest of our lives isolated and thinking only about ourselves, we are missing out on the purpose of God. 00:31:40.945 --> 00:31:44.031 2 Timothy 2, verse 2,. 00:31:44.133 --> 00:31:52.165 Listen to this and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others. 00:31:52.165 --> 00:31:52.747 Also. 00:31:52.747 --> 00:31:55.893 Listen to Paul's dynamic lineage. 00:31:55.893 --> 00:31:58.784 What he looks at is when he's talking about passing the baton. 00:31:58.784 --> 00:32:00.729 Timothy, I've given you some things. 00:32:00.729 --> 00:32:04.185 You give that to some other faithful people and guess what they're going to do? 00:32:04.185 --> 00:32:16.229 They'll share it with others and then the fourth generation will take it and they'll run with it and every time it's given away, it multiplies, it multiplies, it multiplies. 00:32:16.229 --> 00:32:17.653 You know why you and I are here today? 00:32:17.653 --> 00:32:21.884 Because somebody before us carried the baton. 00:32:21.905 --> 00:32:28.644 Young people, I want to say to you this morning your parents can't run the race for you. 00:32:28.644 --> 00:32:32.511 Your parents cannot cross the finish line for you. 00:32:32.511 --> 00:32:39.002 I want to encourage you get in the race. 00:32:39.002 --> 00:32:39.345 Get in the race. 00:32:39.345 --> 00:32:39.705 They can help you. 00:32:39.705 --> 00:32:47.231 They can hold the baton with you and help you to run as you're learning and growing and all of those things, but you have to get in the race yourself. 00:32:47.231 --> 00:32:55.990 He wants Timothy to fulfill his purpose and he's most concerned. 00:32:55.990 --> 00:32:59.413 He's more concerned about Timothy's future than his own. 00:32:59.413 --> 00:33:03.154 He's more concerned about Timothy's legacy than his own. 00:33:03.154 --> 00:33:07.016 He's thinking generationally instead of just about himself. 00:33:09.247 --> 00:33:16.093 I have to say, since I turned 50 and Amy and I started having grandchildren, my whole mindset on this has changed. 00:33:16.093 --> 00:33:22.012 I'm thankful for what God has done in my life and I hope that he continues to use me. 00:33:22.012 --> 00:33:23.391 I'm not finished, I know that. 00:33:23.391 --> 00:33:38.393 But, man, if Jordan and Levi and Hannah and Ben took the baton and ran much faster than I did and jumped over higher hurdles than I ever jumped or climbed higher mountains, and I would love that. 00:33:38.393 --> 00:33:41.051 That would be amazing to me. 00:33:41.051 --> 00:33:53.732 And don't forget about my grandchildren, hudson and Claire and Emma and Nora and baby to come, and maybe others and those that are married. 00:33:53.732 --> 00:34:00.719 You know, noel and Joel, all of these people. 00:34:00.719 --> 00:34:17.302 You know how horrible it would be for me for my life to end and my children, my grandchildren, not be walking with Jesus. 00:34:17.302 --> 00:34:26.896 That is the cry of my heart and friends, if we're going to accomplish what God wants to accomplish in this church, we're going to have to start thinking generationally. 00:34:26.896 --> 00:34:33.588 We're going to have to start thinking about what it looks like to pass the baton and to run with others. 00:34:36.871 --> 00:34:54.141 I thank God for Neil Silverberg who, in the deepest, darkest times of my life, ran with me, encouraged me, coached me, said you're going to make it. 00:34:54.141 --> 00:34:56.704 I don't think I'm going to make it. 00:34:56.704 --> 00:34:57.204 You're going to make it. 00:34:57.204 --> 00:34:58.125 I don't think I'm going to make it. 00:34:58.125 --> 00:35:05.601 You're going to make it. 00:35:05.601 --> 00:35:09.864 So ask ourselves the question have I been running or have I gotten off course? 00:35:09.864 --> 00:35:13.144 The good news is that God is faithful and he can get us back on course. 00:35:13.266 --> 00:35:14.253 Isaiah 40, just quickly. 00:35:14.253 --> 00:35:14.657 Have you not known? 00:35:14.657 --> 00:35:15.423 Have you not known? 00:35:15.423 --> 00:35:16.206 Have you not heard? 00:35:16.206 --> 00:35:19.715 The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. 00:35:19.715 --> 00:35:21.347 He does not faint or grow weary. 00:35:21.347 --> 00:35:23.311 His understanding is unsearchable. 00:35:23.311 --> 00:35:26.547 He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might. 00:35:26.547 --> 00:35:27.590 He increases strength. 00:35:27.590 --> 00:35:42.313 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted. 00:35:42.313 --> 00:35:45.494 But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. 00:35:45.494 --> 00:35:49.338 They shall mount Friends. 00:35:49.338 --> 00:35:55.182 Why in the world would we let a sin committed yesterday control the rest of our lives? 00:35:55.182 --> 00:35:58.652 You know the difference between us and sinners. 00:35:58.652 --> 00:36:03.597 The saints are just the sinners who fall down and get back up. 00:36:03.597 --> 00:36:06.110 Let's get back up. 00:36:06.110 --> 00:36:08.009 Let's finish. 00:36:08.931 --> 00:36:18.474 Well, paul says to his son in the faith, eternal life is a gift and we must be faithful. 00:36:18.474 --> 00:36:21.034 He says I have kept the faith. 00:36:21.034 --> 00:36:27.769 We must, by God's grace, be faithful with the gift of eternal life that we have been given. 00:36:27.769 --> 00:36:30.793 Do we live like we've been given that gift? 00:36:30.793 --> 00:36:39.831 Does it affect the way that we make decisions and the way that we think, the way we process, the way we deal with other people, the way we make life decisions? 00:36:39.831 --> 00:36:45.030 Paul showed Timothy quickly in two ways that he had kept the faith. 00:36:45.030 --> 00:36:48.637 Number one he maintained his personal relationship with Jesus. 00:36:50.284 --> 00:37:05.976 Paul was not just a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, he was a child of the living God, and if he had not maintained a proper relationship with Jesus, all of the rest of the stuff could have crumbled and fallen down. 00:37:05.976 --> 00:37:14.079 It is not enough for us to claim the name and not walk with him. 00:37:14.079 --> 00:37:17.331 Paul wasn't religious. 00:37:17.331 --> 00:37:21.532 He knew what it was like to be religious because he had been that way for a very long time. 00:37:21.532 --> 00:37:33.117 When Jesus encountered him in such a personal way on the road to Damascus, everything changed for Paul and from that point on it was about a relationship, not a religion. 00:37:33.117 --> 00:37:37.431 We're never gonna finish. 00:37:37.431 --> 00:37:42.628 Well, if you've signed up for a religion, trust me, you're not going to finish. 00:37:42.628 --> 00:37:53.317 But if you're in a relationship, that's real talk about somebody carrying the baton with you, and we'll get to that in just a minute. 00:37:53.317 --> 00:37:59.208 Not only was Paul willing to live for Jesus, he was willing to die for him. 00:37:59.208 --> 00:38:01.833 That shows a personal relationship. 00:38:01.833 --> 00:38:09.438 Secondly, he was the greatest advocate for gospel truth, maybe of all time, but of his generation especially. 00:38:10.704 --> 00:38:13.771 Paul guarded with such care proper doctrine. 00:38:13.771 --> 00:38:28.079 He spent a lot of time convincing Timothy that this was necessary, that it was necessary for people to stand in righteousness based on the truth, that is, the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:38:28.079 --> 00:38:31.815 Look at what he said in 2 Timothy 1 to Timothy. 00:38:31.815 --> 00:39:26.266 Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord relationship, nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our savior, christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the what, through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do, but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able to guard, until that day, what has been entrusted to me. 00:39:26.807 --> 00:39:29.597 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me. 00:39:29.597 --> 00:39:39.318 In the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. 00:39:39.318 --> 00:39:45.634 Doctrine matters, the church that you're a part of matters. 00:39:45.634 --> 00:39:49.835 What you listen to on podcasts and on the internet matters. 00:39:49.835 --> 00:40:01.335 Let's make sure that we are allowing the word of God to be the truth that we hold on to, not just the most important truth, but the absolute truth of our lives. 00:40:01.335 --> 00:40:10.237 So, again, the question is my relationship with Christ and his word, transactional or relational? 00:40:10.237 --> 00:40:16.916 In other words, what can I get from him in comparison with can I be with him? 00:40:16.916 --> 00:40:25.217 Finally, in order to finish well, you need a confident expectation of the future. 00:40:25.217 --> 00:40:39.898 Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. 00:40:42.545 --> 00:40:45.576 When was the crown of righteousness placed on layaway for Paul? 00:40:45.576 --> 00:40:49.672 Was it on the road to Damascus? 00:40:49.672 --> 00:40:56.297 Was it sometime later, when he proved himself to be a viable minister of the gospel? 00:40:56.297 --> 00:40:59.273 Was it here, at the very end of his life? 00:40:59.273 --> 00:41:05.552 I believe that scripture teaches us that this crown was laid in waiting before the foundation of the world. 00:41:05.552 --> 00:41:16.175 As Paul was chosen by God to be a follower of Jesus Christ, he was enabled by the spirit to be made alive. 00:41:16.175 --> 00:41:25.655 Under God, we cannot save ourselves, but how many of you know, god is a God who saves. 00:41:25.655 --> 00:41:34.757 The crown couldn't possibly be a result of what he had done solely. 00:41:34.757 --> 00:41:50.253 Paul can't be saying because I've been good enough, because I fought enough, because I've run enough, because I've kept enough, no, he didn't earn his own reward. 00:41:50.253 --> 00:41:54.815 Paul, you know what he was ultimately saying to Timothy. 00:41:54.815 --> 00:42:05.115 He's saying, timothy, here's the secret that I'm giving to you Hold on to this, put your faith, hope and trust in Jesus Christ. 00:42:05.115 --> 00:42:41.146 Paul was telling Timothy to lift his eyes a little higher, to widen his gaze a little broader and to see beyond Paul's example and life, and to see what Paul was looking at and whose footsteps he had been walking in up until this point in time, and even more as he saw the day of his death approaching, death approaching. 00:42:41.186 --> 00:42:42.188