2 Timothy: Dealing with Difficulty

In this sermon from 2 Timothy 3:10–17, we explore Paul's timeless instruction for enduring the difficulties that inevitably come with following Christ. Learn three biblical principles for facing hardship with faith: imitation of Godly examples, anticipation of persecution, and dedication to God's Word. Discover how Scripture equips believers to remain steadfast through trials while trusting in God's sovereign purposes. Be encouraged to persevere with confidence, knowing that God uses every difficulty to strengthen His people and prepare them for every good work.

Transcript

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Welcome to the Gibbon Grace Chapel podcast, where we value the expository preaching and teaching of the Word of God for the purpose of life transformation. The rest, I would encourage you to take your Bible and to open it to 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3. Difficulties are a part of life. If you realize that difficulties are a part of life, they're a lot easier to deal with when they come. For example, athletes who realize that, you know what, practices are going to be difficult. Coaches are going to be difficult. They're going to ride your tail. They're going to insult you many times throughout the season. And when you recognize that, when athletes realize that and recognize that, it's a whole lot easier to deal with the difficult practices, the, you know, the shenanigans of the coach and pain in their bodies, and they're able to push through. It's the athletes who can't get that through their head that that's the way it's going to be, and it's designed that way on purpose to strengthen them, to make them better athletes. They're the ones who end up quitting. It's kind of the same thing when it comes to students. When students realize that, you know what, there's going to be years or seasons or semesters where there's difficult course loads, difficult professors or teachers, it's a whole lot easier to deal with that, to push through that and achieve academic success. It's the students who don't realize that that end up dropping out. The employee who, for whatever reason, doesn't realize that there are difficult people in the world. Chances are they're probably going to have to rub shoulders and work very closely to a very difficult person. Their manager can be very difficult to deal with. He can set impossible quotas. But when an employee realizes that, it's a whole lot easier to deal with that man just push through and do what you're supposed to do. It's employees who don't realize that. They turn very negative, become very critical, they end up getting written up and possibly fired. So it is with the Christian life. If you realize that difficulties are a part of our lives, they become much easier to deal with. The apostle Paul understood this truth, and thus he provided Timothy with principles for dealing with difficulty. Let's look at our text. It's found in 2 Timothy 3, verses 10 through 17. I'm reading from the English Standard Version. You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconum, and at Lystra. Which persecutions I endured, yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it. And how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. That is the reading of God's word. Paul wrote Timothy, and he provided principles for dealing with difficulty. And so obviously, we can take that to heart today that Christians are provided with principles for dealing with difficulty. But what are they? What principles were provided for dealing with difficulty? There are three principles provided for dealing with difficulty. The first principle provided for dealing with difficulty is imitation. Imitation. Look at 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 10 and 11. You have, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and at Lystra, which persecutions I endured, yet from them all the Lord rescued me. So here Paul reminded Timothy that he must imitate his mentor. This was a constant theme of the Apostle Paul throughout the New Testament. He would say, Imitate me as I, you know, do this or that, or follow me as I follow Christ. It was never about, um, it was never about, hey, you know, I'm the Apostle Paul, I'm the greatest thing ever, and so you should do everything the way I do it. That was not his point. What he was saying was, I follow Christ, I've learned these principles from following Christ, and as an apostle, I impressed that upon you to follow apostolic example. And so the New Testament is replete with this command that we should imitate what has been put down in Scripture for us. And so Paul told Timothy that he should imitate him. Now, Timothy imitated Paul's doctrine. And the reason why that's important is because doctrine determines direction. What you believe determines how you live and how you act. Not what you say you believe, what you believe. This is why there could be a stark difference between someone who claims to be a Christian, someone who talks the right language, speaks the right language, looks the right way, say they're a Christian and live like the devil, it's because they really don't believe. What you really believe determines how you act and live. And so Paul was impressing upon Timothy. He says, You you should imitate my doctrine, and since you do, that it stands to reason. It necessarily follows that you will imitate my conduct. And then he listed what that conduct was. He said, You should imitate my aim in life. What does that mean? Paul's singular aim in life was to glorify God. So imitate my aim in life. Paul would have, Paul spoke here. Glorify God. He said, imitate my faith, which means a deep trust in the sovereign plan of God. Imitate my patience, love, and steadfastness. That was spiritual fruit that enabled the apostle Paul to remain steadfast and courageous in the midst of difficulty. And then he said, Hey, you should also imitate my persecutions and sufferings. In other words, realize that difficulty is coming, persecutions and sufferings are coming, but you should imitate the way I handle those. And then Paul went into three examples. He gave three illustrations of what he meant by this. He said, You know that I had all types of persecutions and sufferings in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. Well, you could read about those in Acts chapters 13 and 14. But by way of summary, I'll simply state this. In Antioch Piscidian, the Apostle Paul and Barnabas go and they preach there in the synagogue. And the people were really receptive. In fact, they asked them to come back the following Sunday, the Sabbath, the following Sabbath, and said, Hey, um, will you preach again? Because we want to hear more about this matter. Well, when they come back the following week, it was a packed house. I mean, the crowds were massive. And Paul and Barnabas are preaching, and many people are responding. Jew and Gentile are coming to faith in Christ. And the unbelieving Jews got really mad about this. And so they began to stir up the mob. They began to stir up the crowd, and they eventually ran Paul and Barnabas out of Antioch, Psidian. And so they ended up going to a place called Iconium. When Paul and Barnabas got to Iconium, they were preaching in the synagogue, and the Lord empowered them to heal people, to perform different miracles. And the Jews and the Greeks were coming to faith by droves in Christ. But eventually the town divided, that the city divided over the apostle Paul's preaching. So you had people who had accepted Christ, made up of Jew and Gentile or Jew and Greeks, and they're responding to the gospel, they're coming to faith in Christ. And then you have the unbelieving Jews over here, and they're getting mad because what they're seeing is people being siphoned away from them, but they're coming to faith in Christ. And so again, some of the unbelieving Jews go and they stir up this mob. And there was a plot to attack Paul and Barnabas. And Paul discovered the plot and he decided, you know what? We're just going to hit the road. And so he gets out of Dodge. And he ends up in a place called Lystra. Now, when they get to Lystra, this is pretty fascinating. The apostle Paul, empowered by the Holy Spirit, healed a crippled man. And when that happened, the people thought, oh, the gods have come to us in the form of men. See, they worshiped Zeus in Lystra. They actually had a priest of Zeus. And so they thought that Barnabas was Zeus, and they thought the Apostle Paul was Hermes because he was the one who did the speaking, was the one who primarily preached and spoke. And so the priests led this procession and they were going to bring sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas because, you know, they're gods in the flesh and they came down here to heal people. And of course, Paul and Barnabas resisted that. And they're like, no, no, no. You know, they preached the gospel to them, and people were coming in faith in Christ. But in the meantime, the unbelieving Jews from Antioch to Sidon and from Iconium go to Lystra. And again, they stir up this angry mob. They stone the Apostle Paul. They drag his body outside of the city, leaving him to die. The scripture tells us that the believers came and they gathered around the apostle Paul. And the implication is they prayed for him. The Lord healed him. Paul gets back up, and guess what he does? He goes back in the city. That's brave. And eventually he and Barnabas leave and they finish their missionary tour. But on the way back to their home base, which was Antioch, Syria, they decided to stop by all of these places again. So they go in reverse order. They stop at Lystra, Iconium, Antioch, Poseidon. And what's really interesting, one of my favorite scriptures in the Bibles, Acts 14, verse 22, says they traveled around and they strengthened the souls of the believers, encouraged them to stay in the faith, saying to them, it's through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God. In other words, the message from the get-go from the Apostle Paul was there's going to be tribulations, there's going to be trials, there's going to be persecutions, and it's through many of them that you enter the kingdom of God. In other words, this is the normal experience for a Christian. And for someone to preach another gospel, in effect that you can come to faith in Christ and you'll never have another worry. Man, they are lying to you. They are preaching a false gospel. You see, the first principle provided for dealing with difficulty is imitation. If Paul reminded Timothy to imitate him in these matters, then how much more should you and I? Right? We have the example preserved for us in Scripture. The Lord preserved his scripture for us so that we could have it. And so we too must imitate the Apostle Paul in these matters. First, we should imitate the expectation of difficulty. You realize difficulty is going to come, right? Right? Hammy, he already stated this. I preached this last week in, you know, um 2 Timothy chapter 2. I'm sorry, chapter 3 and verse 1. He says, you know, difficult times are going to come. Of course they are. Absolutely they're going to come. But here's the thing all of those times are already determined by God. And Ephesians chapter 1, verse 11, the apostle Paul writes, In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. Who works all things according to the counsel of his will. That means the good times? Yes, thank you, Lord. And that means the difficult times. Yes, thank you, Lord, because he works all things according to his will. Furthermore, the difficulties that we face in the end will be for our good and God's glory. Romans 8 to verse 28 tells us, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. All things work together for the good. For those who love God and those who are called according to his purpose. Yes, that's right. The good and the difficult in your life, God uses them both for your good. And God gets glory out of all of it. So we should expect difficulty. Secondly, we should imitate Paul's doctrine, right? Because doctrine determines direction. What you believe determines how you really live. And that. Now, I won't spend a lot of time here, but obviously, you know, Jude, Jude writes this in Jude um verse 3 that we should strive, we should contend earnestly for the faith that's been once for all delivered to the saints. That meant the body of doctrine that was given to us. This this has been preserved by the Lord and it's been handed down to us, and and we should contend for this. We conform to the word of God. We do not make scripture conform to us. It's the other way around. We conform to scripture. We do not have the right to reinterpret scripture because you know it's 2026. I mean the Bible's outdated, right? I mean, it's old. You know, I mean, maybe God meant that, you know, for that time, but it's it's different now because you know we we have advanced. No, you submit to scripture, I submit to scripture. We we we imitate the doctrine that he believes because what you believe determines how you live. And then lastly, we should intimidate or imitate Paul's conduct. And I've already hit that. Paul's aim in life was to glorify God. That should be your aim in life. You hear me? That's your aim in life is to glorify God. Everybody going around, you know, looking for their purpose. Here's your purpose. Glorify God. And you do that wherever you are. Whatever you find yourself doing, wherever you work, wherever you live, you glorify God. That's your aim in life. We should imitate Paul's faith as deep trust in the sovereign plan of God. Man, that will anchor you in those difficult times to know that God has a plan, that God has a purpose. We should imitate his patience, his love, his steadfastness. Again, that's what keeps us anchored, anchored during those deep times, difficult times. And of course, persecutions and sufferings. We know they're coming. The best way to do that, by the way, is to live life in the Spirit. Listen to what Paul wrote in Galatians chapter 5, verses 22 through 25. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with his passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. The way, the way to endure these things, handle difficulty, is to live life in the Spirit. And again, that's the way Paul lived because of what he believed about the Lord Jesus Christ. So the first principle provided for dealing with difficulty is imitation. The second principle provided for dealing with difficulty is anticipation. Listen to this. 2 Timothy chapter 3, this is our text, 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 12 and 13. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. While evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. Now, in that particular passage, Paul told Timothy to anticipate two things. First, anticipate persecutions. Secondly, anticipate the progression of wickedness in people, particularly impostors, fake believers, and false teachers. Now, a lot of people have a tendency to read that particular passage and they'll say, see, see, the world, the culture, it's gonna get worse and worse and worse and worse all the way to the end. But that's not that's not what the apostle Paul was getting at. When he said that evil people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived, what he was communicating is a fake Christian, a false Christian, and a false teacher progresses in their perversions. They become more and more wicked. Their teachings become more and more wicked. And in the process of trying to deceive others, they also deceive themselves. They end up believing the garbage they're preaching. In other words, they just go deeper and deeper into deception. So, in other words, um, imposters, false believers, false teachers, they go from bad to worse in their personal conduct and character. That's what the apostle Paul was teaching. And so again, we should anticipate these two things. So we should anticipate persecutions. You realize it is a fact that godly living, Christian living invites persecution. Spiritual living does not. Religious living does not. Church living does not. It's godly living that does. Think about that for a second. You meet all kinds of people, they'll tell you, yeah, I'm spiritual. I'm spiritual, I'm spiritual. I mean, I hear this, I can't tell you how many times I hear this in a week. And in my particular job at the mission, and I'm I'm witnessing to people and and and presenting a biblical worldview. I hear all the time, well, I'm I may not believe exactly what you believe, but I'm a spiritual person. And my response is always the same. Well, Buddhists are spiritual, but they're going to hell. Muslims are spiritual, but they're going to hell. Right? I mean, Satans are spiritual, but they're going to hell. What you believe matters. So spiritual living doesn't bring about. Nobody gets upset about that. They're like, oh, okay, oh, oh, he's spiritual. Or people who just go to church all the time, but they don't really live it, they don't invite persecution. But those who live for Christ, those who have a biblical worldview, and those who strive to glorify God in all of their actions, they invite persecution. That an absence of persecution in your life. Could be an indicator of an absence of Christ in your life. Something to think about, isn't it? Now, does that mean every day you should wake up and be like, I wonder who's going to persecute me today? I'm not painting that picture. You know, I know it's probably coming across that way, but I'm not. It's not like every day, you know, somebody's out there just willing to vilify you and crucify you. Well, I mean, they might be willing to, but they're not going to. You know? It's not like every day, but I am saying you should look over your life and you should think about things. And like, you know what? If I've got it pretty easy and there's no persecution or hardships in my life, it's a pretty good indicator you don't have Christ either. And the reason for that is because Jesus made it very clear in the gospels in John chapter 15. That if the world hates you, it's because they hate Christ. They hated him first. So the world hates you. And of course, the implication is the unbelieving anti-Christian world. So don't take it personal. It's not that they hate you, it's they hate Christ in you. And when you have Christ in you and you're conforming to the image of Christ, well then persecution is going to be part and parcel of the Christian faith. That's part of it. So anticipate it. Now that you know it, it's easier to deal with. Okay, that means I'll still get with God. John Wesley, many of you know John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, who was now rolling over in his grave over Methodism, was preaching here in the United States, all over the United States, riding literally thousands of miles real horseback, preaching all over the place. And uh in in his personal writings, he noted one day, he's like, Man, I haven't been persecuted in quite a while. I wonder what I have between what sin I have between me and God. Something must be going on. I'm not supposed to not be doing something right. So he stops his horse, he gets off, he bows down on the trail and he begins to pray. And in the meantime, there was another guy coming down the trail who recognized John Wesley, who hated John Wesley, and he had some stones, some bricks, and was throwing at John Wesley. And right as he's praying, trying to figure out what's happening, they're flying by his ear, and he goes, Oh, thank you, Jesus. And he gets back on his horse and rides away. Now, you know, I think it's something to worth considering. That a lack of persecution and animosity toward you could be an indicator of a lack of Christ in your life. You see, Paul made it clear as day in 2 Timothy 3.12 that all those who desire to live a godly life will be persecuted. Because you're going against the grain. We should anticipate persecution. But at the same time, we should anticipate the blessings that come with it. In Matthew chapter 5, verses 10 through 12, we read, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Yes. Yes. And so we should rejoice and be glad, because our reward will be great in heaven. 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verses 3 through 5. Listen to this. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. Did you catch that last phrase? For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. See, when when persecution comes to you because of your Christian living and your Christian faith, you should rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven. Even if you never see it here, by the way, this is why Jesus said, you know, because they did the prophets the same way. It's always humorous to me that people going around in today's church and culture and climate who call themselves apostles and prophets. No, they're not. First of all, no, they're not. And secondly, you didn't want to be a prophet. You didn't go around and say, hey, I'm a prophet. And then I get to give all these cool messages, and people are going to give me money. No, man, when you were called a prophet in the Bible, you were like, Because what the Lord just called you to was an extremely difficult ministry, in which most of the time people were not even going to listen. And so whenever you enjoy or whenever you share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, realize you also share abundantly in his comfort. In other words, whenever you're going through persecution, whenever you're going through difficulty, that's when you experienced an aspect of God that you otherwise would not, namely his comfort, his mercy, his grace. He abundantly lavishes upon you. That's a reward. Because then you have the capacity to be able to express that to another believer who was also going through difficulty. You see, anticipation of persecution makes it easier to deal with. I already mentioned some of the prophets. Think about this Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter 6, the Lord commissions Isaiah to be a prophet.

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Right?

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That's where he goes into the temple and he sees the Lord high and lifted up. The train of his robe fills the temple, right? The angels fly around. Okay, Isaiah 6. And then the Lord says, you know, who will go for? Who shall I see in? And Isaiah was like, Well, here am I what I do? And listen to his call. This is verses 10 through 12. I'm just paraphrasing it, but you can look it up. It's Isaiah chapter 6, verses 10 through 12. The Lord said, Okay, I want you to go and I want you to tell the people this. But hearing they're not going to understand, seeing they're not going to perceive. Their hearts are going to be hardened. In other words, Isaiah, your prophetic ministry is going to be full of difficulty, and people are pretty much going to ignore you. And Isaiah's response was, Well, how long is that going to be? And the Lord responds with, Two all the cities are desolate and everybody's gone. Think about that for a minute. Or Ezekiel chapter 3. The Lord calls Ezekiel to prophesy. He says essentially the same thing. He says, Okay, Ezekiel, here's what I want you to do. I want you to say what I put in your mouth. I want you to go and I want you to proclaim this to the nations. Meaning Israel and Judah, I want you to preach this message. But they're not going to listen to you. They're a rebellious house. And because they've rebelled against me, they're not going to listen to you. Go get them, Ezekiel. Or the Apostle Paul. We're preaching about the Apostle Paul. Go back and read the Apostle Paul, his salvation account, his call to ministry. In Acts chapter 9. Right? He's blinded, he's praying, he's waiting. At the same time, the Lord moves upon a guy named Ananias, says, Hey, I want you to go pray for the Apostle Paul. And Ananias goes, Uh, do what? Because at this time Paul was saw. Saul was going around persecuting the church. He's killing people. Or at least having them arrested, put into prison for their Christian faith. Anyway, the Lord makes this statement in Acts chapter 9. I think it's around verse 16. He says something like, Hey, it's okay. He's a chosen vessel of mine. He's going to go preach the gospel to the Gentiles and to kings and so on. And I will show him how much he's going to suffer for my sake. That was Paul's commission to the ministry. Can I just tell you? Very similar thing happened to me when I was called into the ministry. I think I shared this before. I was young, man. I was in my 20s. 21, something like that. I was called into the ministry. I never will forget it. I could take you to the exact spot. I was at a church in Nashville, Tennessee on Franklin Road. I could tell you what side the sanctuary it was. I was vacuuming the carpet right beside the drum set. And the clearest day, the Lord called me into the ministry. I was so excited. I called the pastor. I set up a meeting. I go in his office. I sit down and I express, the Lord has called me into the ministry. I'll give up everything. This time I'm playing college baseball, you all this, I'll give up everything. I will go into the ministry and I never will forget it. I mean, stoic, no smut, nothing. I thought, man, this dude don't even like me. And I never will forget. He leaned across his desk and he said, if you can do anything else and be happy, go do that. And he sat back. And I was stunned. I didn't know what to say. And he goes, seriously, that's the end of the meeting. You can leave now. I was like, what? So I walk out of the office, and that kind of bothered me for a while. I'm like, I don't even know what to do with that. So thought about it for a while, prayed about it for a while. And of course, Kelly and I talked. But I couldn't shake it. And so I set up another meeting with him and I went in and I explained to him. You know, the Lord called me and all this kind of stuff. And he goes, okay, meet me here Saturday morning, 9 o'clock. I said, okay. So I met him in the church parking lot Saturday morning, 9 o'clock. He said, get in the car. I said, where are we going? He said, you'll find out when we get there. He takes me to this, like, I don't even know what to describe it. He pulls up and he says, get out. And I'm in a part of Nashville. I don't even know where I am. And I said, what am I supposed to do? He said, you stand here and preach till I come back. Have a good day. And he left. Later on, he sent me to different places, and that's how I learned to preach. On streets. He put me in front of stores and I would preach and people come yell at me and cuss at me and all that kind of stuff. See, I'm pretty used to you not liking my messages. Several, I say to say several, several months later, when the Lord was dealing with me, you know, about full-time ministry and I was working with the pastor and all that. I asked him that question. I said, Why did you, why did you do that? And he said, Look, he said, if you can handle a hostile crowd, then you can handle church people. At the time, my 20s, I didn't get it. I was like, what are you talking about? Man, church people are so sweet. They're so full of love. You know what I mean? And he was like, look, man, I'm just gonna tell you. The reason why I said if you could do anything else, I'd be happy to go do that. It's because if you're not called of God, it will be the worst thing you've ever done in your life. Do not do it. The church will sp you out, it will spit you out. The enemy of the church and the enemy of your soul is a constant attack on you and your family and your health. The enemy plants wicked people in the church to stir up strife and division. It will be the worst thing you've ever done. And if you truly preach a biblical message, you're not gonna fill up a church. My first day in seminary, a professor walks in, turns and looks at us and says, if you have dreams of pastoring a megachurch, kill it now. Unless you want to be a false prophet. Now, does that mean every megachurch is led by a false prophet? No, that is not true at all. But still, the average-sized church in America is not a megachurch. We just happen to be surrounded by them because we're in the bubble of the Bible. See, the gospel message, if it's truly preached, is offensive. Right? It's offensive. You're a sinner. You were born that way. You're going to hell. You're dead in your sins and trespasses. You follow the prince of the power of the air. You're a son of disobedience. You're a child of wrath. You hate God. You're at war with him. By God. By God. For by grace, through faith, you have been saved. It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should do it. See, you don't bring anything to Christ. You have nothing to give that's worthy of salvation or redemption. Christ comes to you. You know? And if you truly preach that, man, it's difficult. And you know, here's one of the things because the Lord saw fit to put me in environments like that where I learned to preach like that, and people were being pretty hostile. It strengthened my resolve to know I really am called to the ministry to preach this book. I started out with the understanding that it's going to be difficult. On the flip side, I know a lot of people who are no longer in the ministry. Because they started out with a romanticized idea of what ministry is about. They were following some celebrity pastor, you know, and they thought, well, in a few years I'm going to be like that. And not realizing that's probably not their calling. That's not how that's going to be for them. They deal with difficult circumstances, difficult people that have trials and tribulations, persecutions, health problems, and so on, and they figure it's not worth it, and they walk away. My point is this just like it's difficult for preachers, and we should know and be aware of that before we ever enter the pulpit, the same applies to everyday Christians. I'm calling you to the true gospel. I'm calling you to follow the true Christ. Who said, because the world hated me, they're going to hate you. Take up your cross daily. Crucify yourselves and follow me. That's the call. It's not to be wealthy, it's not to be popular. It's not to ever have a problem and walk in divine health every day of my life. That's a false gospel. The call is to take up your cross and follow Christ. And with that comes difficulties. But if you know it on the front end, it's a whole lot easier to deal with it. Those who don't realize that, they've received a false message. They're the ones who have difficulty and they fall away. Listen to this. Matthew chapter 13, verses 20 through 21. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. And when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. This is the point. Too many people come to a false faith from hearing a false gospel. They're not even born again. They don't have any root. They just hear the good parts of the word. They're like, oh yeah, I'm a dumb, sign up for that. But the scripture makes it very clear. It says, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, in other words, you can bank on it. It is going to happen. And those who fall away, fall away. But those who are truly converted, strengthen. Their roots grow deeper. They learn to become steadfast and courageous. They experience the comfort that comes from the Lord Jesus Christ during those persecutions and tribulations. Oh man, there's nothing sweeter than one or two o'clock in the morning and you're going through all kinds of trouble and it's in the middle of the night and tears are streaming down your face and you're crying out to God, and all of a sudden the atmosphere changes. The presence of God begins to move upon your heart. If you've never experienced it, I can't explain it to you. But if you're a child of God, you will have those experiences at some point. Because that's what it means to be a child of God. Secondly, we should anticipate the progression of perversion. I've somewhat hit this. I'm not spending a time here. It says false teachers and false Christians, right? They will progress in their perversions. It's why false prophets always preach crazier and crazier stuff. Because they get so deceived, they believe their deception. Paul emphatically tells us that evil people and impostors will go from bad to worse. I mean, I well, I mentioned the United Methodists earlier, and I hate to, you know, pick on them. It's just easy. They're obvious right now what's happening. I mean, one time the United Methodist Church was pretty solid, and all of a sudden they begin to slide on the inerrancy of Scripture and other important matters, and before you know it, they're ordaining homosexuals to the ministry, and before you know it, the church is splitting over that very issue. To the point that Osbury, their, I mean, their flagship theological seminary in Kentucky has been removed from the United Methodist Church. They're no longer sanctioned by the United Methodist Church. They don't support them because, this is to their credit, that seminary went and cave on the homosexual agenda. So good for them. But it's crazy to think about their flagship seminary has now kind of been disowned, disbarred from their own fellowship. And see, that's what ends up happening. It progresses, it gets worse and worse and worse. They're deceived and they're being deceived. So this is why you hear all kind of false doctrine coming out of, you know, pulpits and you know podcasts and all that kind of stuff, and it seems to get crazier and crazier. And those of you that are true Christians, you're looking, how can somebody believe such stupid stuff? Well, it's because the scripture tells us they go from bad to worse. They get dumber and dumber. And they believe the deception. And so the second principle provided for dealing with difficulty is anticipation. And again, if you know it on the front end, it's a whole lot easier to deal with. So, if you're going through persecution right now, you ought to be pretty excited. Alright, here's a third and final principle provided for dealing with difficulty. It is dedication. The third principle provided for dealing with difficulty is dedication. Look at the text. It's 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 14 through 17. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it. And how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which were able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. That the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. So Paul provided, you know, Timothy the third principle for dealing with difficulty, which is dedication. And there were several things in here we could talk about, but for sake of time, I'm gonna say this. Timothy was to dedicate himself to all of Scripture. There was obviously apostolic instruction example, ancestral example. We talked about from childhood, he knew the faith. I mean, there's some other things we could talk about, but for sake of time, I'm gonna deal with this. He was to dedicate himself to all of Scripture. And the reason is threefold. First, he was to dedicate himself to all of Scripture because of the authority of Scripture. This is the authority. This is the authority. The Apostle Paul said it this way: he said, all of Scripture is God breathed. In other words, the word of God is God-breathed. It is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Peter said, as men, you know, we're writing that we're moved along by the Holy Spirit. This is not man-made. This is not man's ideas or dreams. This is inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. This is God's word, and therefore this has the authority over our lives. Not what you want it to be, not what you hope it to be, not what a denomination says, not what a fellowship says. That's not the authority. The authority is the word of the living God. Proverbs chapter 30, verses 5 and 6 reads, Every word of God proves true. He is a shield at those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. That's right. You don't want to add to the scripture. You do not add to the word of God. Second, he was he Timothy was to dedicate himself to all of Scripture because of the profitability of Scripture. Which is what Paul pointed to, right? He said in 2 Timothy 3.16, all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable. Well, what's it profitable for? Well, he told us. He said it's profitable for teaching, which means to teach all men about God and about salvation and about the laws of God and the expectations of God. Jesus showed us how this is done in Luke chapter 4, verse 27. It reads, and beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures all things concerning himself. Think about that for a minute. This is Jesus appearing to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. And he appears to them and he talks to them and he says, with Moses, meaning the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers 2 to the Ryan. Moses and all the prophets. He interpreted to them all the scriptures concerning himself. Listen, the scripture is Christocentric. The scripture is about Christ. The scripture points you to Christ. And if someone's interpretation of a text or a Bible leads you away from Christ, it's a false interpretation of the Bible. When they glorify man over Christ, you have a problem. Because the scripture is Christocentric. So the scripture is profitable for teaching men about God and about salvation and so on. It is profitable for reproof. What is reproof? That's a weird word. It means a sharp rebuke. To stop wrong thoughts and ideas and actions. In other words, it's like, hey, stop. That's a reproof. Man, the word of God will do that for you. You ever had that happen? You're just living life, you think everything's grand, and you read the Bible one day and you're drinking your cup of coffee, and you go, you start choking on it because the Holy Spirit goes, hey, stop.

unknown 47:50

Right?

SPEAKER_00 47:50

That's a reproof. Sometimes, come the more unpleasant part of pastoral ministry and public preaching, is you got to go to the pulpit and go, hey, stop. That's part of it. And then it's profitable for correction. What's correction? That's a little softer. It's like, you know what? You kind of got off track here. This is how you get back on. That's correction. It's also profitable for training in righteousness. What is that? That's the lifelong pursuit of living a Christian life. Notice I said lifelong. I mean, that's what every day is about. And then, lastly, he was to dedicate himself to all of Scripture because of the purpose of Scripture. Listen to verse 17 of 2 Timothy 3. It says that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. So all scripture is breathed out by God. It's profitable for all the things we just went through: teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. Why? What's the purpose? So the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Here's the beauty of the scripture, guys. The scripture permanently prepares God's people. It's like a soldier who is trained and is given the skills, the supplies, and the weapons necessary to accomplish the mission. That's what scripture is to a believer. It equips you with everything you need to be successful in your mission of glorifying God. It's like a ship that is secured to carry passengers from point A to point B. That ship is equipped with everything that's needed for that journey. It has personnel, it has supplies, and so on. That's what the word of God is for a believer. It's everything you need as you navigate the seas of life on this journey. Until you reach celestial shores, we call heaven. The word of God is what prepares you for everything that you're going to encounter on that rough sea. So it behooves you to know the word of God. The word of God tells us that you should expect difficulty. It's coming. But if you know it on the front end, it's a whole lot easier to deal with it. And you can kind of smile to yourself going, oh yeah. Oh yeah, I'm a child of God. So this is normal. Well, I'm so glad I got to encourage you today. If you'll stand to your feet with me this morning. We're going to conclude today's message by observing communion together. If you would like to observe communion with us, you're more than welcome. You do not have to be a member of this church, but we do ask that you are saved and water baptized. If you're saved and water baptized, you're more than welcome to take communion with us. If you have not already gotten your elements, I would encourage you to go to the sides of the sanctuary and get those and return to your seat. Today's text provided three principles for dealing with difficulty. The first principle provided for dealing with difficulty is imitation. We should imitate Paul's aim in life, his faith, and so on. Imitate his doctrine. Stay true to the Word of God. The second principle for dealing with difficulty is anticipation. We should anticipate difficulty. It's coming, it's part of it. All those who desire to live a godly life will suffer persecution. We should also anticipate a progression and perversion in false Christians and false teachers. You see them over time because they get worse and worse. Their conduct, their character gets worse and worse. It's eventually revealed. They can't hide it forever. And the third principle provided on how to deal with difficulty is dedication. Dedicate ourselves to all of Scripture. For it's all God-breathed. All of it points to Christ. And it equips you for your journey. So that when you deal with difficulty, you have the skills, the weapons, to know what to do. With that thought in mind, we're going to observe communion and thank God. The Jesus. Dealing with difficulty. Think about that for a minute. When he was tempted the devil, what'd he do? Quoted scripture. He was on the cross, what'd he do? Quote scripture. When he was teaching in the synagogues, what'd he preach? Scripture. Man. We need to have it in us like that. So we're dealing with those difficulties, we do it. In Matthew 26, 26, and following on the night that Jesus was betrayed, he took bread and after given things. He broke it, passed it out among the disciples, and he said, Take, eat. This is my body. Father, we thank you for the plan of salvation. Jesus, we thank you for accomplishing salvation for us on the cross and the subsequent resurrection. Holy Spirit, we thank you that you apply it to our lives. That we walk in the Spirit, submitted to the Word of God. Thank you, Jesus, for enduring this difficulty for us. Having your body beaten, whipped, and knelt to the cross. In accordance with the scripture. In the same way, he took the cup. And after giving thanks, he passed it out among the disciples, and he said, Take drink from it all of you. For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sin. Greg, will you pray?

unknown 56:17

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 56:24

All right. Difficulty's coming. You have principles to deal with it. It's an old night easier to deal with it when you know it's coming on the front of you. Thank you for listening to the Calliope Grace Chapel podcast. Make sure that you like, share, follow us on socials. I'm Dr. Jason Murphy, proclaiming grace, transforming culture.