WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:00.479 Well, amen. 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:01.919 And Happy Palm Sunday. 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:05.599 We have a very exciting week of ministry planned at Millington Baptist Church. 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:08.240 Thursday night, Friday night, of course, Easter Sunday. 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:12.160 We hope that you'll join us for all of our special events this week. 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:15.919 This morning, we're continuing our sermon series through the book of 2 Timothy. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:19.920 If you'd open up your Bibles and turn there with me, we'll be in chapter two today. 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:25.519 I want to start today by telling you a story about Princeton Theological Seminary. 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:30.960 This school was once a bastion of Bible-believing theological conservatism. 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:35.759 And I'm not talking about the Puritan era or the era of Jonathan Edwards in the 1700s. 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:39.920 I'm talking about the 1800s and even the early 1900s. 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:44.880 They had four presidents in a row that were incredible theologians. 00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:49.920 Its founder, the great Archibald Alexander, which was a pillar in the church. 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:56.240 His successor, Charles Hodge, famous for his influential three-volume systematic theology, still used today. 00:00:56.479 --> 00:00:59.679 His son, then, named after the first founder, A.A. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.079 Hodge, his dad's mentor. 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:04.159 And then, of course, the great B.B. 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:08.000 Warfield, famous for defending the inerrancy of Scripture. 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:12.480 This is truly a theological Mount Rushmore on the screen. 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:15.519 Giants for the faith, mighty in the scriptures. 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:20.400 They all taught there, defending the authority of the Bible, defending sound doctrine. 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:25.519 This was synonymous with what is now called Old Princeton. 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:31.599 That was once their legacy, but over time that legacy wasn't maintained. 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:39.359 Over time, the seminary slowly drifted during the fundamentalist modernist controversy of the early 1900s. 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:48.400 And over time, German higher criticism infiltrated each of the classrooms, and soon pastors were being trained there to question the Bible. 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:55.280 And soon missionaries were being sent out from there who didn't even believe in, much less preach the gospel. 00:01:55.680 --> 00:02:02.879 So what had once been a place of strength became a place of theological drift and confusion. 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:04.719 And it's very sad. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:08.960 The word seminary comes from the Latin word semmon, which means seed. 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:21.280 It was supposed to be a place where lots of little seeds and seedlings were planted, and they were supposed to grow and then multiply and become new plants like the ones that were from before. 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:39.360 But if you were to enroll in and attend Princeton Theological Seminary today, well, one of their big new programs is that you can study their new farmonary program, a place dedicated to training faith leaders conversant in the areas of ecology, sustainability, and food justice. 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:46.000 Now, I guess that's okay, but never at the expense of sound doctrine. 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:50.159 It's largely not something that they are committed to anymore. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:55.759 There are small pockets of evangelicals there, but it is a tiny minority. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:03:04.400 The point here, friends, is that if Christian institutions do not intentionally pass the faith on intact, they will drift. 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:13.199 Maybe not all at once, but they will slowly drift further and further away one generation at a time. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:18.400 Which raises an important question for anyone who leads a Christian ministry. 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:25.599 How does a church remain faithful across generations instead of drifting away from the gospel? 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:30.000 This is a danger for every seminary, for every church, for every Christian ministry. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:32.240 And the problem is all too common. 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:38.159 Many once solid gospel-teaching institutions are now teaching anything but the gospel. 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:46.400 The solution and answer to that gigantic problem is actually found in our text today, 2 Timothy 2, 1 to 7. 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:50.479 This is exactly what Paul is addressing in this particular passage. 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:57.439 So the title of my message today is How to Prevent Gospel Drift, Holding the Line for the Next Generation. 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:00.159 You'll see four different parts to this passage. 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:03.759 First, we're going to talk about what it means to do that by depending on God. 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:07.039 Secondly, we're going to learn to entrust the truth to others. 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:14.080 Third, he's going to say you need to embrace the cost of real ministry, and finally, he will tell us you need to reflect deeply on what really matters. 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:19.199 What you're going to see here in this text as a preview are three dominant metaphors. 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:27.680 There's going to be a military metaphor, then there's going to be an athletic metaphor, and then there's going to be an agrarian metaphor. 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:32.000 And you'll also notice three key imperative commands in this text. 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:34.720 The first command is going to be to be strengthened. 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:40.000 And the second command is going to be to entrust, and then the third command is going to be to co-suffer. 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:42.800 So those are what we're going to be talking about today. 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:45.279 And let's pray and then we'll dive right into the text. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:46.399 Would you pray with me? 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:48.079 Father, we thank you for your word. 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:50.560 Thank you that your truth does not change. 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:53.439 Even when the world around us does, you do not. 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:58.079 We ask that now you would strengthen us by your grace, just as you commanded Timothy. 00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:02.319 Open our minds to understand your word, open our hearts to receive it. 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:12.160 And Lord, help us not only to hear your truth today, but to live it out and to pass it on faithfully to our children, to the next generation. 00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:14.480 For we ask it in Jesus' name. 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:16.560 And everyone said, Amen. 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:18.319 Point one, depend on God. 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:20.720 Take a look at chapter 2, verse 1. 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:29.759 Paul begins this chapter by saying, You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:32.240 Notice that transitional word, then. 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:33.920 You may want to circle that. 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:38.160 That begins this verse, but tells us immediately that we need to look backwards. 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:46.000 You may recall what had just happened at the end of chapter one were a group of both positive examples and negative examples. 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:49.120 The positive example was a man named Onocephorus. 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:52.160 Paul says, You should be like him and strengthened as he was. 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:54.319 And then there were two negative examples. 00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:56.959 And Paul says, you should not be like them. 00:05:57.279 --> 00:06:00.639 You, my child, follow me. 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:02.879 You should be different. 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:09.120 And the way I want you to be different is by obeying this command to be strengthened. 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:19.439 Now, if you're a theological nerd, you may be interested to know that the Greek language has not only active voice and passive voice, but they have a third voice that's called middle voice. 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:24.879 In the middle voice, the recipient is both the doer of the action and the receiver of the action. 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:29.199 In this case, this particular verb is found in the middle voice. 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:39.279 Oftentimes in the scriptures, when that happens, it's because there is a divine imperative happening here that assumes some human responsibility. 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:43.040 It assumes that we are to yield in some sense to this strengthening. 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:46.720 It assumes that we are to be receptive to this strengthening. 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:48.000 Be strengthened. 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:52.959 So much of what we hear today does not follow this particular command. 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:58.000 So much of what we hear today is that we need to be looking into our inner self. 00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:01.920 So much of what we hear today is we need to find our own inner strength. 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:06.240 But the scripture, I would say, in the New Testament, does not teach that. 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:15.680 It does not teach that you need to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps and look deep down inside for the strength that is hidden on the inside of you. 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:20.959 It is nothing like that famous Mariah Carey song called Hero. 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:22.639 Do you remember that song? 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:28.079 The lyrics go like this there's a hero if you look inside your heart. 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:30.639 You don't have to be afraid of what you are. 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:36.879 There's an answer if you reach into your soul and the sorrow that you know will melt away. 00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:37.920 Hey. 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:49.120 And then a hero comes along with the strength to carry on, and you cast your fears aside because you know you can survive. 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:54.639 So when you feel like hope is gone, look inside you and be strong. 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:59.600 And you'll finally see the truth that a hero lies in you. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:02.000 That's such a nice song. 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:04.000 It gives me all the feels. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:07.680 When I hear that song, I think I can climb a mountain. 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:14.079 But can I say with all due respect to Miss Carey, I don't think that's a New Testament song. 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:19.040 The strength that we live in in the Christian life is a strength that is not our own strength. 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:20.399 We are strengthened. 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:21.600 We need strengthening. 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:23.360 We need someone to strengthen us. 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:28.639 And thank God He has given us the gift of His Holy Spirit for exactly these matters. 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:31.199 We are weak, but he is strong. 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:34.159 We are frail, feeble, children of dust. 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:35.840 Through him we prevail. 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:40.799 It is not I, but Christ working in me, Paul says, who is adequate to these things. 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:42.639 Christ has made us adequate. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:46.799 He's the one who lifts up weak knees, he's the one who strengthens feeble hands. 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:51.039 The Bible says, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:54.240 It does not say, be strong in yourself. 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:56.639 The old hymn writer said it well. 00:08:56.799 --> 00:09:01.840 Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing. 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:06.080 We're not the right man on our side, the man's a man of God's own choosing. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:07.759 Does ask who that may be? 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:09.360 Christ Jesus, it is he. 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:15.600 Lord Saboeth his name, and from age to age the same, and he must win the battle. 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:18.480 Paul says, be strengthened. 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:19.679 But be strengthened by what? 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:24.240 He says, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:25.039 What grace? 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:26.879 The grace he just talked about in chapter one. 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:32.879 The grace that called you, the grace that saved you, the grace that justified you, the grace that is sanctifying you. 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:37.600 In the Christian life, though, grace is not just pardon, it's power. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:40.639 Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 15. 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:45.600 He says, But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:51.919 On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:55.600 Notice there's some work here, but it's mysterious, isn't it? 00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:57.200 There's a synergy happening. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:01.279 Even the work that we do is somehow coming from grace. 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:05.279 Be strengthened in the grace that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:07.360 You cannot do this in your own strength. 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:12.399 Brothers and sisters, if you are feeling weak today, listen to the good news of this text. 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:18.480 If you're feeling the need for God's strength, then listen to these words of encouragement from 2 Timothy chapter 1. 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:21.840 Be strengthened by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:27.600 Now, some of you are winning the battles of your life right now, and I'm so thankful that you're having a good season. 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:28.879 I rejoice with you. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:39.519 But there may come a time that despite your best efforts and despite your utmost hard work, you are still sensing that things are falling apart around you. 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:47.120 And in those days, at that place of rock bottom, may you come to know the one who strengthens the weak. 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:52.240 May you come to know the one who has his power at work in you. 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:56.399 The song says it this way Christ in us, the cornerstone. 00:10:56.720 --> 00:10:59.279 We go forth by grace alone. 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:01.360 Let me give you an example of this. 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:03.360 Annie Johnson Flint. 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:05.440 This woman was an orphan. 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:07.440 She had developed arthritis. 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:10.879 She was bent over most of her life in a wheelchair. 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:13.279 Not the kind of modern wheelchairs we have either. 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:15.679 This was over a hundred years ago. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:18.559 She also had cancer and was going blind. 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:23.440 She spent most of her later years in bed until her body was covered with sores. 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:29.600 Somehow, this woman, however, found a sweetness in just choosing to trust the Lord. 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:35.840 And she actually was the one to encourage others through notes of encouragement and through writing poems. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:42.159 Many of those poems we have taken and turned into the great hymns of the church that we still enjoy today. 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:43.919 She wrote this. 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:53.120 To added afflictions, he addeth his mercy. 00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:56.159 To multiplied trials, he multiplies peace. 00:11:56.399 --> 00:12:02.159 His love has no limits, his grace has no measure, his power, no boundary, known unto men. 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:08.399 For out of his infinite riches in Jesus, he giveth and giveth and giveth again. 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:19.840 Brothers and sisters, if you have the choice on your Spotify playlist to put in Mariah Carey or Annie Johnson Flint, choose Annie every single day of the week. 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:22.159 Depend on God. 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:23.039 Point two. 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:40.000 Paul says, And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:43.679 Notice, he says, What you have heard from me. 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:49.039 What we have heard from Paul is the sum teaching of the entire gospel message. 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:52.240 There's a movement happening here in the letter of 2 Timothy. 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:58.240 In chapter 1, we were instructed to guard the good news, to guard the good deposit. 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:05.120 But notice here, it's not just going to be about guarding, it's going to be also about passing it along to the next generation. 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:09.600 So we're moving here in the letter from guarding to sharing. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:13.759 But I want you to see that guarding and sharing are actually interconnected. 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:19.039 And I want you to see that the guarding happens by the sharing. 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:21.120 How do you guard the gospel? 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:25.600 By sharing it, by entrusting it to faithful men. 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:26.879 Which means what? 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:31.519 Faithful men probably is a reference here to elders, qualified elders. 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:36.000 This is not a ministry of addition, it's going to be a ministry of multiplication. 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:39.919 Paul is not just preserving the truth, he's reproducing teachers. 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:42.960 Notice here we have four different generations in this verse. 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:46.960 We have Paul, then we have Timothy, then we have faithful men, then we have others. 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:48.720 This is their strategy. 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:53.840 The gospel always moves forward through people who intentionally pass it on. 00:13:54.240 --> 00:14:02.399 Now, some scholars have made the observation here that in this verse, in verse 2, the word for men here is actually not distinctively a word for male. 00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:05.840 It is the Greek word anthropos, which simply means human. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:08.879 And so this is not necessarily referring only to men. 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:14.080 In fact, it's a collective word that I would argue refers to both men and women who bear this responsibility. 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:18.159 There are many examples, after all, of women passing along the faith as well in the New Testament. 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:22.480 Titus chapter 2, we look in the Old Testament, Proverbs chapter 1, listening to this woman. 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:27.679 We learned in chapter 1 of 2 Timothy that it was Timothy's mother and his grandmother that passed along the truth to him. 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:33.360 So this exhortation does not just apply to elders in the church, it applies to all of us, whether we're men, whether we're women. 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:34.480 This is the strategy. 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:36.399 And this is not a new strategy. 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:41.120 Back in the book of Exodus in chapter 18, do you remember Moses' father-in-law, Jethro? 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:43.519 What was his strategy for his son-in-law? 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:49.360 Moses, delegate to other leaders, find people around you and train them and multiply yourself. 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:52.240 What was Jesus' strategy when he was here for three years? 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:58.480 I'm going to get 12 disciples and I'm going to train them so that they'll be able to go out and share this message too. 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:00.080 That is the strategy. 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:07.759 We're not going to let generations arise who don't know what this precious treasure is that the apostles once taught us. 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:09.360 And what is that precious treasure? 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:11.679 What is the message that you have heard from me? 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:15.039 It is the simple gospel, the simple message of Jesus. 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:17.200 It's the message that we celebrate this week. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:26.399 It's the message that Jesus came from heaven to earth, took on human flesh, was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, the life that you and I should have lived. 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:30.480 And then he died the perfect death, the death that you and I actually deserved. 00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:36.159 And then on the third day, victoriously, he rose again, conquering death and the grave and the devil. 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:40.320 And then this same Jesus ascended to heaven to the right hand of the Father. 00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:42.000 And he reigns now forever. 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:46.879 And then he has sent his Holy Spirit to reside on the inside of us, to strengthen us. 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:50.799 And through him we live and we move and we have our being. 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:52.799 This is what we celebrate this time of year. 00:15:52.960 --> 00:16:03.200 This is what we celebrate even on Palm Sunday, that this Jesus came riding on a donkey, presenting himself as the king of the Jews, and not just the Jews, but the king of the whole world. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:09.440 And he came to offer himself as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world on Passover week. 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:12.799 He came to offer himself as the ultimate Lamb. 00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:21.519 And then later this same week, we will celebrate that this Lamb has now shed his blood, and that we now can apply that same blood to the doorposts of our heart. 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:28.320 And just like the children of old who had the wrath of God pass over them, when we apply the blood, the wrath of God passes over us. 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:34.159 And all who come to him by faith and faith alone will be forgiven and will receive God's grace. 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:37.440 This is the message that we celebrate during Holy Week. 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:40.159 And this is the message that Timothy had received. 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:45.600 This is the message that needs to be passed on, passed on, and this is the message that we are passing on as well. 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:48.159 So Paul says, Now I want you to take the same message. 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:53.440 Do not change one word and pass it along to faithful men. 00:16:53.600 --> 00:16:54.480 And what will they do? 00:16:54.639 --> 00:16:57.759 They're going to be able to do the same exact thing and teach others as well. 00:16:57.919 --> 00:16:59.120 This is so important. 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:07.359 Because later on in chapter three, what we're going to read about is that times will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:16.480 In fact, what they're going to do, Paul says, is they're going to gather to themselves false teachers who teach them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:19.920 And so Paul says, Timothy, don't get into that. 00:17:20.079 --> 00:17:25.920 You stick with this message, stick with the truth, stick with that old-time religion, if you will, stick with the gospel. 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:31.839 This is what we're seeking to do here at MBC each and every day. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:35.920 There are so many examples of what's happening with this going on at our church. 00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:39.279 I can't name them all, so I decided just to name one. 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:42.880 Our fifth and sixth grade boys and girls classes. 00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:48.960 Every single fifth and sixth grade boy or girl has the opportunity to attend a 9 a.m. 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:50.559 children's Sunday school class. 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:56.480 Linda and Linda and Deirdre teach the girls, and then Mark Molillo and James currently are teaching the boys. 00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:02.880 And these teachers have a legacy of years, some of them decades, teaching these classes to these kids. 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:06.960 Mark will lead them through an Old Testament survey class that he developed along with James. 00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:13.839 Linda and Linda have all of these scripture memory tools that they've been faithfully teaching these kids for years and some of them decades. 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:17.680 In fact, just here's a quick straw poll. 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:25.119 If you have either attended one of their classes or one of your kids has attended one of those classes, would you just put your hand up and look around for a second? 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:26.720 This is what we're doing. 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:29.200 And we ought to thank God, amen. 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:35.440 We ought to thank God for teachers like that who are faithfully investing in the next generation. 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:40.000 Let me give you an illustration of how important this is. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:45.279 Here's an illustration from the Green Bay Packers of the 1960s. 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:49.200 They were dominating pro football for an entire era. 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:52.240 Well, they had a particular play that they would run. 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:56.880 Maybe you've never heard of this, but they ran a very famous play called the Green Bay Power Sweep. 00:18:57.279 --> 00:19:03.680 Everything was wrapped up in this one play that they capitalized on because of their size and their speed and their agility. 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:07.839 It was running a play that no one could defend against. 00:19:08.079 --> 00:19:10.240 The Green Bay Power Sweep was like this. 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:20.079 You had two guards, you had Jerry Kramer, 6'4, 270 pounds, and this other guy, Fuzzy Thurston, about six foot, 250 pounds. 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:37.279 They'd send these two twin towers, these two giant guys on the outside of the line, and then behind them they had a fullback named Jim Taylor from New Orleans, Louisiana, and he would run right on their heels, and then you had these three guys going around the outside of the line, and then creeping right behind them was Paul Horneck. 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:43.599 So you had two guards, you had a fullback, and then he's leading interference with Taylor. 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:47.759 This was the most formidable play of the 1960s. 00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:58.960 This play was so important to Vince Lombardi that every single summer when he would get his team together for camp right before preseason football, he would explain this play once again every year. 00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:09.119 And no matter how many years he would explain the Green Bay power sweep, he would get just as excited to explain to the new guys the signature play on their team. 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:22.079 And what Jim, what Vince Lombardi did was he shared with them with such intensity and such fervor this particular sweep because he would say, Gentlemen, to beat us, you gotta beat our power sweep. 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:28.240 And so they would run this play in the 60s over and over and over, and nobody could stop them. 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:30.400 It was their signature play. 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:39.920 Friends, the reason why I'm sharing that illustration is because the Church of Jesus Christ has a power sweep. 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:43.759 We have a play, we have a signature play. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:49.839 We have one essential play that we have to run, and if we can't run this play, we have one thing to do. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:21:04.640 If we do not run this play, it doesn't matter how great our property is, it doesn't matter how much parking we have, it doesn't matter how awesome the music is, it doesn't matter how great the programs are, it doesn't matter if we don't run this play, we're toast. 00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:07.200 The play is in verse two. 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:11.359 The play is guard the gospel and pass it on. 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:16.240 If a church doesn't run this play, it's dead. 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:17.920 They're like a dead tree. 00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:21.519 It might still be standing, but in a matter of time, it's gonna fall. 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:28.400 And history shows us what happens when churches and seminaries and ministries stop running this play. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:37.359 Princeton Seminary once stood firmly for the authority of Scripture, but over time their legacy was not passed on. 00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:49.119 When the first president, Archibald Alexander, lay dying on his deathbed in 1851, he called his successor to his bedside, Charles Hodge. 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:55.680 And at that time, he handed him a white bone walking stick, literally made out of whalebone. 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:59.039 And he said to Charles, This is a symbol. 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:09.519 You my Must hand this to your successor in office in a sense that it might be handed down as a kind of a symbol of orthodoxy of our seminary. 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:13.279 I want you to take this stick and I want you to pass it on. 00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:19.359 Well, Charles took the stick, went out into the hallway, and broke down in tears. 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:25.599 His mentor, his teacher, the guy who founded the seminary was dying. 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:27.920 And now everything was on his shoulders. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:30.160 And he didn't know if he could handle it. 00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:31.920 But of course he did. 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:38.160 And Hodge taught so well and then passed it on to the next guy, and then passed it on to the next guy. 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:44.160 But somewhere along the line, I don't know where this white bone walking stick is today. 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:46.480 Maybe it's still there sitting in a closet in Princeton. 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:47.359 I don't know. 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:54.319 But somewhere along the line, these guys traded seminary for farmonery. 00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:56.799 We cannot do that. 00:22:57.279 --> 00:23:00.400 We must entrust the truth to others. 00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:04.720 You are holding a white whalebone walking stick. 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:06.720 Someone gave it to you. 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:09.440 The question is, who are you handing it to? 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:15.359 This is how a church must remain faithful from one generation to the next. 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:17.279 Is the power sweep? 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:18.880 Number three. 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:21.680 How do we prevent gospel drift? 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:26.480 We have to embrace the cost of real ministry, and there is a cost. 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:28.079 Take a look at verse 3. 00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:29.279 Paul gets into this. 00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:36.799 Timothy, share in suffering, he says in verse 3, share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 00:23:37.119 --> 00:23:39.119 Suffering will be a part of ministry. 00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:41.119 And notice it's a group thing. 00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:42.720 With us, he says. 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:43.839 Who's us? 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:49.359 Me, Paul, Onocephorus, with Jesus, with the other apostles. 00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:51.759 Share in suffering with us, Timothy. 00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:55.440 This is what it means to be part of this group, this Christian group. 00:23:55.599 --> 00:23:58.319 Suffering is going to be part of the deal. 00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:05.119 This is such a theme in the New Testament that if you don't notice it, you must not be reading the New Testament. 00:24:05.279 --> 00:24:12.400 I'll just give you five very quick examples of how this theme shows up, sprinkled almost in every book. 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:14.880 Here's one from Acts chapter 14. 00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:31.839 It says, When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. 00:24:33.119 --> 00:24:36.000 Matthew chapter 16, verses 24 and 25. 00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:43.599 Then Jesus told his disciples, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:48.400 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:51.359 John 16, 33. 00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:55.920 Jesus says, I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace. 00:24:56.079 --> 00:24:58.319 In the world you will have tribulation. 00:24:58.559 --> 00:24:59.920 But take heart. 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:02.079 I have overcome the world. 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:04.799 John 15, 18 to 20. 00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:09.119 If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:12.240 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. 00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:16.319 But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:19.839 Remember the word that I said to you a servant is not greater than his master. 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:22.720 If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. 00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:26.240 There is this fundamental disconnect between Christians and the world. 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:29.039 We are fundamentally out of step. 00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:30.480 One more. 00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:32.240 Matthew 10, 25. 00:25:32.799 --> 00:25:39.039 If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they malign those of his household? 00:25:39.359 --> 00:25:41.839 So there's five quick examples. 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:49.759 My point here is just to show you that suffering is assumed for those of us who follow the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:52.720 Ephesians chapter 6 says it is not peacetime. 00:25:52.880 --> 00:26:03.680 There's a war, and it's not a fleshly war, but it's a spiritual war, and there will be a cost for you to enlist in this army as a soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ, because that's what soldiers do. 00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:14.160 Paul continues this image in verse 4, as he says, No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:18.720 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:23.119 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:24.079 Now pause right there. 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:26.160 Notice there's three different images. 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:27.599 Three different images. 00:26:27.680 --> 00:26:31.519 There's the soldier, there's the athlete, and then there's the farmer. 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:36.880 So I want to unpack those three images, and I got a chart. 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:43.359 There's two things that are happening with each image there's an exhortation, and then there's also a promise. 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:46.240 Each of them has an exhortation, each of them has a promise. 00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:49.759 And I want you to look for those two things with each metaphor. 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:51.680 So look back at verse 4. 00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:53.039 The soldier. 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:59.119 In the soldier, the exhortation here is that they should not get entangled in civilian affairs. 00:26:59.279 --> 00:27:02.960 And what he's talking about there is a single-mindedness. 00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:11.680 There is a command here that we're not to be distracted, that the Timothy is to give himself more of a narrow focus. 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:15.839 So the exhortation is to be undistracted. 00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:26.960 A soldier has an undistracted devotion to a duty that precludes entanglements in what Paul calls the daily things of life, the civilian pursuits, if you will. 00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:31.039 Are those things sinful things? 00:27:31.519 --> 00:27:32.799 I don't think so. 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:38.079 He could have used the word for sinful things here if he wanted to, and he did not. 00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:44.559 What's probably being criticized here is not so much involvement, but entanglement. 00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:48.640 Hebrews chapter 12 says something very similar. 00:27:48.880 --> 00:27:53.440 When you're running, you should throw off those things which easily entangle you. 00:27:53.599 --> 00:27:55.839 What are those things which easily entangle you? 00:27:55.920 --> 00:28:01.920 Well, my friend James Rickershauser says, who runs marathons, that would be anything that keeps you from running. 00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:04.960 Anything that keeps you from doing your best. 00:28:05.200 --> 00:28:07.680 Throw off those things that distract you. 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:12.640 Can I talk just a second here about your phone? 00:28:14.559 --> 00:28:15.200 I know. 00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:17.440 I'm stepping on your toe. 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:20.640 Look at your screen time this week. 00:28:20.880 --> 00:28:24.160 If you have an iPhone, you tap settings, scroll down your screen time. 00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:28.240 If you do that, you might just like me break down and cry. 00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:30.000 What am I doing? 00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:31.920 Scrolling and scrolling. 00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:43.119 Look at the top three apps that you've been using this week and look how much time you've spent on those three apps and ask yourself Am I using this device too much? 00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:48.799 There are tools you can download and use to limit your screen time. 00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:57.680 There are ways in which you can limit this, and I encourage you to take a good look at that because we have to make the most of the time that we have. 00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:12.079 Paul says you're a soldier, and it's easy to get distracted by undue and overwhelming things that are in this world that are not necessarily sinful things, but they will drain your time, they will drain your resources, and they will drain your focus. 00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:16.880 And Paul says, I want you to have an undistracted focus, a single-minded focus. 00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:19.039 What's the promise? 00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:25.519 The promise is in this verse, if you will do that, Paul says, you will please the one who enlisted you. 00:29:25.759 --> 00:29:26.640 You see that? 00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:28.720 You will hear those words. 00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:32.000 Well done, good and faithful servant. 00:29:32.319 --> 00:29:33.920 So let's look at my chart. 00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:37.680 Remember, each exhortation has, each, each image has an exhortation and a promise. 00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:40.000 The exhortation here, be undistracted. 00:29:40.160 --> 00:29:41.519 Throw your phone in the trash. 00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:42.240 Just kidding. 00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:44.720 But use less, your less use your phone less. 00:29:44.799 --> 00:29:46.559 Be undistracted by whatever is distracting you. 00:29:46.640 --> 00:29:47.680 Maybe it's not your phone for you. 00:29:47.839 --> 00:29:48.720 What is it though? 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:52.319 The promise, you do that, you will be pleasing to God. 00:29:53.039 --> 00:29:55.279 All right, let's talk about the Navy SEALs. 00:29:55.440 --> 00:29:56.559 What does it take? 00:29:56.880 --> 00:30:02.640 Jocko Willink explains one of the most brutal parts of that process is something they call hell week. 00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:15.519 For five and a half days, these candidates are pushed to the absolute limit, running miles in the sand, carrying boats over their heads, plunged into freezing water, and they get maybe a couple hours of sleep total. 00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:19.759 They are cold, exhausted, disoriented, and completely spent. 00:30:19.920 --> 00:30:26.319