Responding to a World in Chaos - 10:30am || 2 Timothy 1:12 || Pastor Ryan Nichols || 2/27/22

Would you all stand with us? We want to welcome you this morning to Calvary Chapel. Those of you who are present with us live and those who are listening, watching by internet, we want to welcome you. Would you bow your heads and join me in prayer? Father, we thank you for this opportunity you've blessed us with to come and worship you in song and to study your Word.

Father, I want to lift up our service this morning. I want to lift up the children's church teachers as they will be teaching the youngsters. And I lift up the youngsters that you would give them listening ears to hear, Lord, what you have for them and hearts to receive that. And I would ask for your blessing on those that are looking after the little ones in the nursery.

Bless that time. I would ask that you would just bless the ushers. And the responsibility they take out there in the hall and the areas, Lord. And then as we begin to worship you in song, Lord, may we sing this unto you as we come just as we are, Lord. As we come with various things going on in the world and in our nation, in our state and in our communities, Lord, we know that you're faithful, Lord.

I want to ask that you would anoint Ryan by the power of your Holy Spirit to teach your Word this morning. And so, Father, bring about just a peace, a oneness together in you, knowing that you love us. Your grace is sufficient for us, Lord. Your mercies are new every morning. And you're sovereign. What you rule is always right. We give you praise, Lord. And that's what we want to do is just worship and praise you this morning.

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Worship his hope.

The sun comes up. It's a new day dawn. It's time to sing your song again.

Past and whatever lies before.

Let me be singing with thee. His holiness is great. And your heart. It's kind for I will keep a thousand reasons for my heart to bless the Lord's holy name grows near and my time has come so we'll sing your praise on and bless the Lord, O my soul.

Worship his hope. Yes, Lord, that's what we want to do right now as we come to you. Just. As we are again, Lord, with concerns, with blessings, with maybe fears at times, wondering kind of what's up, but we know that, you know, what's up, Lord, and we can trust you with all of that. Lord, so bless Lord. Now, may we just let go and worship this morning. You may be seated.

It's my key. What a beautiful name. Nothing compares to this. What a beautiful name. It is the name. As to this. What a wonderful name. And against what a powerful name. It is done.

Lord, what a powerful name. Oh, Lord, I'm just reminded, Lord, when the in the garden there, when when they were asking Judas had betrayed our Lord and they were asking him. Jesus, and he said, I'm here, you know, and as he as he spoke, they fell backwards. Your word is powerful. Lord, we can trust you in every area, whatever may be going on. Lord, you are in control.

He is a Lord of heaven, a place that you have given the promise of that stand in wonder the sacrifice. You may see beyond measure the stars in the sky, love that you do not deserve that you have given us so that I stand in wonder. If I should may see beyond measure the stars in the sky, precious Lord Jesus, your love has no bounds. That's just. That's just awesome.

Oh, yeah. Yes, Lord, you are worthy, Lord, of all of our praise. We thank you, Father, just moving hearts and encouraged today, Lord, for those who are discouraged, strengthened for those who feel weak today, because in our weakness, you're made strong. We thank you. The splints himself in lightness tries to hide and trembles at his voice. Oh, we'll see how in his hands, beginning and the end of spirit, son, lion and the lamb, the lion and the lamb is our God.

We'll see how.

Amen. The Lord bless you all as we're continuing this service, that he would just speak to us by his holiness. Holy Spirit, Lord, move in this service. Lord, we love you. We thank you, Father. Would you just anoint Ryan as we prepared earlier with the power of your Holy Spirit to bring forth your word? Oh, bring about a just a unity among us, Lord, standing in you, the author and finish of our faith.

Praise the Lord. Let's have some fellowship time. Good morning. If you would begin locating your seat, grab yourself a bulletin. We'll go over a few announcements.

Glad you could be here with us this morning. Over on the left hand side of your bulletin are all of the studies that we have going on throughout the week. Just a reminder about tonight that tonight is our marriage and family study and back in the back room at five o'clock. And then the women's study is going to be picking up with their new study in First Corinthians this Thursday on the third.

So also one thing that I forgot to put in here is that. New our daily breads are in the back. If you like to pick up on those because March starts Tuesday, which is kind of crazy to think about. So that's a I don't even know what's happened to the year so far. A couple of other things in the middle section of your bulletin church directory. Pictures have been taking place with that.

Everything is going really well. I think we've got a couple of weeks left of that. So if you have not signed up yet, we want to see your beautiful faces in a full color publication. So with your name next to it and all the fun information so that people don't have to text me and say, hey. Can you tell me what so and so's number is, which I don't mind doing, but it'll be fun when you've got your own little right there.

So make sure you sign up for that. Also, kid check, I believe, starting in March. I don't think Sandra's in here. Well, he's starting in March is when that's going to be taking place. So all of your info is right there. A little QR code that you can scan to work on getting your kids signed up for that. If you have questions, see Sandra Davis. See Sandra Davis.

If you have questions, see Sandra Davis. And then one more thing. It's almost time to cut to grass. Yay. So, Curt, you want to come up? It's almost that time, the evil of winter is almost done. We're working on getting past the evil of winter and Aslan is coming. I'm just kidding. That's a... That's the way I see it. So Curt is going to be... We've always had a ministry, mowing ministry, where we have several people sign up, either husband, wife.

Or... friends that get together. I know Doug Bliss is the one that got me involved in this several years ago. I think in the past we've had four to five teams that sign up and mow. My wish is as many people that we have, our congregation has grown a lot. Hopefully we'll get more teams to sign up so you don't have to mow as frequently. And we do have a mower. We have a nice big hustler lawnmower

out here that you're free to use if you do sign up for the mowing ministry. We maintain it. We'll always have a gas there for you. The mowing ministry consists of mowing and weed eating. So if you have any questions, I'll be available to talk to after church. There's a sign-up sheet in the back of the church. It has my name and phone number if you'd like to

call me and ask me questions or text me some questions. But it would be wonderful if we would have 10 to 12 teams sign up. It's always a two-member team on the mowing ministry. I'm sure there's many things that I am overlooking to mention, but Pastor Ryan maybe will fill you in with a few more things. But we'll have a sign-up sheet back there for two weeks probably, maybe three weeks. But we usually start mowing. I looked at my last

sign-up sheet that we did. We did our mowing, started in April, the first week of April, and went all the way through the last week of September. So with that being said, just please think about it, sign up for it. And that's one way that you could sure be a ministry to the church is through the mowing ministry. Very good. Thanks, sir. Okay. So see him afterwards.

All right. For our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 57. Psalm 57, looking at the New American Standard, so we say the same thing. If you need one, there should be one in your row. And as you are turning to Psalm 57, if you would stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word,

I will read the odd verses, if you will follow along with Pastor Allen, and the even verses. Psalm 57. For the choir director. I couldn't pronounce it first service. I can't pronounce it, this one. A mission of David when he fled from Saul in the cave. Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in you. And in the shadow of your wings, I will take refuge until destruction passes by.

I will cry to the God most high, to God who accomplishes all things for me. He will send from heaven and save me. He reproaches him who tramples upon me, say law. God will send. He will send forth his loving kindness and his truth. My soul is among lions. I must lie among those who breathe forth fire. Even the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword.

Be exalted above the heavens, O God. Let your glory be above all the earth. They have prepared a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They dug a pit before me. They themselves have fallen into the midst. I will be the first of it, say law. My heart is steadfast, O God. My heart is steadfast. I will sing, yes, I will sing praises. Awake, my glory. Awake, harp and lyre.

I will awaken the dawn. I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples. I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your loving kindness is great to the heavens and your truth to the clouds. And read verse 11 with me. Be exalted above the heavens, O God. Let your glory be above all the earth. And Lord, we do thank you that our refuge is in you, especially right now.

It's just so good to know that. And so, Lord, we praise you for who you are. We ask now that as we spend time studying what your word has to say to us, that you would speak to us by the power of your Holy Spirit. Lord, if you don't show up, then we have nothing. So we just pray for that presence of your Holy Spirit to be upon this place today. In Jesus' name, amen.

You may be seated. You may be seated. And if you would open up in your Bibles to the book of 2 Timothy, chapter 1. I called a little bit of an audible yesterday because of the things going on in the world. I woke up yesterday morning thinking about everything that was taking place and thinking, man, it just feels like one of those weeks where we need to get outside of the realm of normal

to interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to do something just a little bit different. So I've entitled the message, Responding to a World in Chaos. I think that's the best word I could choose to use right now as I look at the things that are happening in the world, is I would choose to use the word chaos. As a matter of fact, Wednesday evening into Thursday morning as I was watching entirely too much news coverage of what all is going on, I just thought, man, everything just feels chaotic right now.

But really, it's even just beyond easy. It's Eastern Europe and the things that are taking place there. It feels like everywhere in the world it feels really chaotic right now. I consider the things that are happening in Ukraine and the chaos that they must be feeling in Eastern Europe right now. And then I think about the fact that with everything that happened with Russia, China has decided to encroach even further into Taiwan.

And as a matter of fact, I read an article this morning that said that a U.S. warship went through some waters that... Near Taiwan that China said was a provocative move on the part of the United States. Russia is... There's even more news coming out today that's just... It just gets a little bit scary. It's chaotic when you think about those kinds of things.

But you go just beyond the war-torn areas. Oh, not to mention the fact that Kim Jong-un in North Korea decided now seemed like a really good time to do some military exercises. Precautionary, of course. It's just a planned exercise. And as we see this... These aspects of chaos, we go, oh, my goodness. And then we look at the things that have taken place in Canada over the past few weeks with the Freedom Convoy.

And I don't care what anybody's opinion on that is. It still created some chaos in the world that we live in. And now it's taking place here in the United States as well. Inflation is at a level that we've never seen before. They say it's a 40-year high. Although from what I understand, the numbers are being mildly doctored that inflation is actually worse than what they're saying that it is.

And then you think about all the riots and protests that have gone on over the past couple of years. And as I sat down and Pastor Allen and I started praying Thursday morning, I just said, everything just feels chaotic right now. And sometimes that can cause us a great deal of concern. And as we approach this aspect of chaos, I think there's three ways that in general we as human beings tend to approach things, especially with what we've got going on right now.

So three choices, I suppose, that you have. Number one, you could choose to hide your head in the sand and just pretend that none of this is even happening. Matter of fact, you probably know somebody that's doing that. You probably know somebody that when you brought up what was going on in the world, they're like, there's bad things happening in the world right now.

And you're going, what rock are you living under? Come out from underneath of it and join the rest of us, won't you? Because the world's gone a little nuts right now. Maybe you're one of those people that you've been hiding your head in the sand, not taking note of the fact that everything in the world is going a little nutty right now, but completely on schedule as far as God's concerned.

Number two, you could decide that what you're going to do is hide in your bunker and just wait for the rapture to happen. Right? Like that's a real-world scenario for some people. They're like, hey, I've got all of the ammunition I need. I've got all of the food that I need. I'm going to hide out right here and just wait for the whole thing so that Jesus takes me home.

Now, there's nothing wrong with being prepared, and I'll talk about that later because I think preparedness is very godly. We're told in the Proverbs, look to the ant who's sluggard. Pay attention to how he prepares for winter. I think there's importance in that, but we can't live our lives hidden away from the world. And there's the third way. Which I think is the biblical response to this world in chaos, and that's that we can get busy doing the work of the kingdom.

We can busy ourselves doing the work of the kingdom. I read an article yesterday morning that I found to be incredibly inspiring, and it was about the president of Ukraine. The United States had given him an option. They said, hey, we can fly you out of there. We can get you out of harm's way. And this is how he responded. He said, I was here. I need ammunition, not a ride.

And I was like, oh, dude, like, where's Tim Allen when I need him? You know, you just want to grunt when you hear that. You're like, man, that's a guy I will go to the doorsteps of hell following because he's in front. He's taking the lead. We don't see very many men like that anymore, do we? And yet there he is standing his ground because he knows it's his nation that's at stake, and he's going to go to war to make sure that those people are protected.

Well, brothers and sisters, I think we could use a little bit of that in the church today. Because as we respond to a world in chaos, we shouldn't just be sitting back waiting for a ride, although I do think that the rapture is coming. I absolutely think that, and that is our hope. But we should not just live our lives sitting back waiting for the ride. We need some ammunition because the fight is here, and the fight is now.

And it's time for us to stand up and be the church that God has called for us to be. Well, there was a guy in the New Testament that felt the exact same way. And his name was Paul. You've probably referred to him as the Apostle Paul. Because the Apostle Paul had the exact same viewpoint in the way that he handled himself and in the way he handled his ministry.

As a matter of fact, Paul went through so much as an apostle of Jesus Christ, and yet he was so confident in the calling that he had on his life. And so I want to spend a little bit of time this morning not only talking about the confidence that Paul had, but also the exhortation that he's going to give. We're going to look at 2 Timothy today. But let me give you quickly a little bit of background on that.

The book of 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy is the very last book that Paul would have written. As a matter of fact, he wrote it from a prison cell. Now, Paul was imprisoned twice. The first time was at the end of the book of Acts. And when he was imprisoned at the end of the book of Acts, he was there in Rome. And he was in what one might call the cushiest circumstance possible for one imprisoned in Rome.

Because he was allowed to live in his own rented quarters where people could come and go. He was chained between two Roman soldiers. But he had a certain amount of freedom as far as Roman imprisonment was concerned. Well, after that first imprisonment, he was released. And when he was released, he went back to doing the work of the ministry. As a matter of fact, we're told he took the gospel as far as Spain.

And then when he came back to Rome, he found that there was a new Caesar that had taken over. A Caesar by the name of Nero. You've probably heard about him. Nero began to unleash persecution on the church that had not been seen before. One might call it unprecedented. And in the beginnings of that persecution, before it really got heated up, before it really ramped up,

he had Paul arrested and had him in prison. And this time, he was not in his own rented quarters when people could come and go as much as they want to. No, he was in a dungeon beneath the palace with very little sunlight coming in. He was truly in prison. And he knew exactly what awaited him. He knew that there was one ending and one ending for him only, and that was death.

But he would be executed by the Romans. He would be executed by the Roman government because of being a Christian. And with that as a backdrop, he began to write a letter to Timothy, the very last letter that he would ever write. And when he wrote to Timothy, he needed to encourage Timothy that even though his life was about to end and persecutions were very much on their way, that hard times were very much coming, that Timothy, as a young man who was very timid, would continue to do the work of the ministry.

You see, Timothy was a guy who came to Paul when he was a very young man, perhaps even a teenager. He started going on missionary journeys with Paul. As a matter of fact, Paul refers to Timothy as his own son in the faith. And he brought him up in the things of God, and he brought him up in the things of ministry. But you see, Paul and Timothy were two very different people.

Paul was a very bold, brash, confident human being who didn't care who he upset. And Timothy was the exact opposite. You see, oftentimes when I read about Timothy, I think of myself. Because I'm not an overly bold human being, and quite frankly, I get pretty nervous. There's a reason why there's not very much hair on top of my head, and why I get cramps in my stomach all the time.

It's because I'm a very nervous person. And Paul knew that about Timothy, and so as he wrote this letter to Timothy, he needed to encourage him, first of all, that there was a purpose to what he was doing, that even though persecution was coming, that God had a plan, and that God was still in control. But he also needed to tell him, keep up the fight. Because perilous times are coming, but so is Jesus.

So keep doing the work of the ministry. And so I believe that if I could encapsulate Paul's confidence in one verse, it would be verse 12 of chapter 1, and this is what it says. It says,

Now, as Paul starts off this bold statement of confidence, he says, Now, any time a statement like that's given in the Bible, you should automatically ask yourself a question. What is this? What is this reason that he's talking about? Well, this reason begins to be given to us up in verse 8. It says, Actually, let's start in verse 6 for context's sake. He says,

Therefore, don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or me, his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was granted to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. So when Paul says, For this reason I suffer these things, the reason is this. The reason is the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ that had been foretold for years through all the prophets,

found its culmination in Jesus, who died but rose again and ultimately defeated death and then made Paul an ambassador of his so that he would go forth and preach and teach and make the world. He would make disciples. He said, That's the reason why I'm being persecuted right now. That's the reason why I'm facing all of this suffering right now is because of the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You know what? Those believers in Ukraine are facing the exact same thing right now. You probably didn't know that a lot of this was about religion, did you? I would listen to Amir Serfati the other day, and he said, You know, there's really three reasons why Russia is attacking Ukraine. Two of them are very nationalistic and very militaristic in nature, but do you know what one of them is?

They've departed from the Russian Orthodox Church. They're no longer Orthodox like the Russian Orthodox Church is, and he's angry about that. You said, What? There's a spiritual aspect to this? Absolutely, there always is. You see, this is a war on the church. Matter of fact, there was an article that came out two days ago that talked about the fact that what's going on now

is truly a war on the church. And all of those believers in Ukraine can say the same thing. For this reason, I am suffering these things. But you know what? It may feel like right now it's happening on the other side of the earth, but I feel like it's coming soon to a doorstep near you. And we need to be ready for that. And even though Paul knew that maybe Timothy

wasn't experiencing what he was experiencing right now, he knew that it was coming soon to his front door, and he'd better be ready for it. He said, For this reason, I suffer these things. But notice what he says next. But I am not ashamed. Now, as I was studying that phrase, I'm not ashamed, I loved what one commentator said. He said, Really, the best way that you can put it

is that Paul said, I don't regret anything that I've done. I have no regrets for all of the life that I've lived. For all of the suffering that I've been through, for all of the pain that I've been through, for all of the persecution that I've been through, for what I'm going through right now and what I feel certain is lying in front of me in the future, I don't regret any of it. I don't regret all of the things that I've gone through.

Why? Because he says, For I know whom I have believed. I love that statement. Because he says, I know. Now, that word know is the word gnosko in the Greek, which is an experiential type of knowledge. You can read about things, but then you can experience things. For instance, I can know that an electric fence has a current going through it, but once I grab the electric fence, I go,

now I gnosko. Now I gnosko that there's an electrical current flowing through that because I know it through experience. Right? That's the idea. You see, the knowledge that Paul has of God is an experiential knowledge because of everything that he's been through in his entire life. It's important that we as believers in Jesus Christ know what we believe. I want us to understand that this morning.

It's important that you know what you believe. Too many believers right now have no idea what they believe. If you're a Christian, what does that mean? I go to church on Sunday? Surely there's more to it than that. You should know what you believe. We'll get to that in just a minute. But almost as if not more important than what you believe is knowing who you believe.

Because when it comes right down to it, all of the orthodoxy that we have, all of the study that we do, all of the time put into what the word of God has to say reveals one thing and one thing only to us, and that's Jesus. You were created to know God. Sin interrupted us knowing God. Jesus made a way through the cross for us to once again know God and deal with our sin.

And so when Paul says, for I know in whom I have believed, what he's saying is, I know him with every fiber of my being because of everything that I've been through in my life. I know him because I've studied what his word has to say. I know him because I've spent time in prayer. And I know him because in all of these things he has always proven himself faithful.

And I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt, I know him. I know him. And I know exactly what he's going to do. I know exactly how he's going to handle things and I know how much he's going to take care of me. He says, for I know whom I've believed. Do you? Do you know in whom you've believed? Do you know Jesus? Oh, it's so easy to come to church and go, good word or thank God he's done.

Right? And then you leave and you're like, well, I went to church, at least got that out of the way. And then when all is said and done, you just got a little bit of a Bible message. Or you can know some facts about the Bible and Jesus would tell you the same thing that he told the Pharisees. You study the scriptures for in them you think you have knowledge.

But these are they which testify of me. Brothers and sisters, Jesus wants you to know him. And you can't know him if you don't experience all of the things of life. Because it is in the day in, day out, things of life that we begin to know who Jesus is. He says, I know in whom I believe. Oh, doggone, I'm running out of time. Faster than I thought I was going to.

I always go slower in second service than first service. I have no idea why. Anyway, he says, and I am convinced that he is able to keep what I have entrusted to him until that day. That word convinced means positively persuaded. I am positively persuaded that he is able to keep what I've committed to him until that day. You know why he's positively persuaded?

You know why he's convinced? Because he has seen over and over and over again that Jesus is always faithful. Matter of fact, we're just going to touch on a few brief verses in this book, but I would highly encourage you to go when we're done and read through the book of 2 Timothy. Because this is Paul's last letter. It's the last recorded words we have from him.

And from it you can see, he means everything he says in this verse. Because he's been through so many things in his life. He says, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day. Now here's where there's a little bit of debate with commentators. Because they say, okay, so what has Paul committed to God until that day?

What is he able to keep that Paul has committed to him until that day? Well, on one hand, you have some people that say, well, what Paul's saying here is, God is able to keep my soul because I have committed it to him. Until the day that he takes me home to be with him. On the other side, you have people that say, no, no, Paul's saying, I've committed my ministry to him.

And God will keep my ministry that I have committed to him until that day. And each of them makes a really strong argument. But you know how I usually handle these things? Maybe it's both. Maybe what he's saying is, both my life and my ministry I have committed to him. And I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, he's gonna keep it until that day. You see, Paul, I think,

lived a life that said, I'm gonna pour out, give out, and wear out until I finally go home to be with him. And so I will commit my ministry to him, trusting that he will use whatever words come out of my mouth that come from him in the most powerful way possible until the day that I'm done breathing. And so I've committed my ministry to him until that day. But do you know what else I know that he knew?

That he was so protected in the hands of God until the day that God would decide to take him home. That though his life would not be insulated from persecution, though his life would not be insulated from suffering, and though God may not deliver him from the death that we know that he ultimately faced, that his life belonged to Jesus and nothing would happen to him apart from the loving, sovereign will of God until the day that God took him home to be with him. He says, I know in whom I've believed and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep what I've committed to him until that day. And that's the confidence that Paul lived with.

And I think that best encapsulates the confidence that we see of him in 2 Timothy. And so as he makes this beautiful statement of confidence, as he makes this beautiful statement of confidence to Timothy in the midst of all of the suffering, he also begins to give Timothy exhortations. Exhortations because he knew there were things he would need to hear to continue. And so the last half of this message today are five exhortations taken from the book of 2 Timothy that I think not only were for Timothy but are for us today.

Number one, be strong. Look over at chapter 2 verse 1. It says, You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Man, it's a great word, isn't it? Be strong, right? That's a manly verse. That's one that you put on the cover of like the men's conference, right? Oh, come to our 2022 men's conference. Be strong. Because when I think about that phrase, be strong,

I think of the opening scene or all of the training scenes in Rocky, right? That's what starts going through my head like, right? I'm jumping rope. I'm doing pushups. Particularly the Rocky training montage in Rocky 4 when he's in the mountains of Russia. Bear in mind when he fights the Russian, right? That's what's in my mind. Be strong. I'm like chopping wood and all this kind of stuff,

but that's not what that word means. That word actually has nothing to do with physical strength. It means endued with power. But the idea is this, clothed with inner strength. See, this is an inner resolve that oftentimes reflects itself in the way that you act on the outside, but it's an inward resolve that no one can ever change. It is an inward strength that produces action

that has strength behind it. You see, we could say that when Zelensky made that statement, the fight is here, I don't need a ride, I need ammunition, that he was being clothed with inward strength that came out in the attitude that expressed itself in such a powerful way to his people. But I would like for you to take note of what comes next because I don't know about you, but I lack that inward strength. When I look at me, all I can see is weakness.

When I look at me, all I can see is frailty. And so where does this inward strength come from? You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Okay, now you're speaking my language. Because he says, where does that strength come from? It comes from the grace of Jesus Christ. We all know what that word grace means, right? An unmerited gift.

Something that we could never earn ourselves, but something that is given to us by Jesus Christ. So what does that mean for me? How do I access this grace? Well, the only way that I can access this grace is by asking. Asking that God's grace would be at work in me, producing that inner strength. And as he does so, I think he produces it in two ways. Number one, he produces it by reminding us

that we are saved by his grace. That I am secure in my position in Christ because I am saved by his grace. Now, this is a really good word and a really good moment, I think, for us to say, if you've never put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, maybe you come to church sometimes, but you've been playing a game. This whole thing isn't real to you.

It's just what you do because your wife drags you here, or your husband drags you here, or your parents drag you here, or because you want to make sure you look good in front of some people, then today's the day for you to find your salvation in the grace of Jesus Christ. Because that's the only place where true inward strength will ever come from, is by resting in that grace. But I also think, but I also know that some of you are here this morning and you're saved, but you're wrestling with feelings of doubt, feelings of fear, and feelings of condemnation because maybe you're not responding to things the way that you should, or because the enemy loves to come in and rob us of our peace. And God wants you to rest in the salvation

that you have because of his grace. And as you're sitting there saying, Lord, I'm struggling with really resting in salvation, then you need to pray, Lord, show me your grace. And you know what he's always so faithful to do? He's always so faithful to do just that. And really express that grace into your life. But not only does he strengthen us with his grace

to remind us of our salvation that we have in him, but he strengthens us by his grace to remind us that he is the one who fashions us into who he wants us to be. That he is the one who is at work transforming us. He is the one who is at work sanctifying us, setting us apart, and making us into who he wants for us to be. Because that's what the grace of God is.

You see, the grace of God, which brings salvation, has appeared to all men, and it teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts so that we can live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age. That's what the grace of God does for us. And as you cry out for that grace, then he'll give you that strength to be the man or the woman that he's called for you to be. The one who can flee from sin.

The one who can stand in the face of temptation. The one who can stand up to the persecution. The one who can stand up to the hardships that I know are coming in this life. Brothers and sisters, be strong. Number two, he tells us to be diligent. Look over at chapter two, verse 15. He says, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed,

accurately handling the word of truth. That word diligence, it's kind of an interesting word, and it's a word I don't really like that much because I'm not very good at being diligent. But it's what the Bible calls me to. But it's really a pretty strong word. The word diligent literally means to exert one's self or to bend every effort. Now wait a second. Didn't I just say that Jesus is the one that does all the work?

His grace produces salvation in me. His grace produces good works in me. Oh wait. His grace produces good works. You see, grace produces works in our lives. And if we are going to not take grace in vain, then as God's grace is shown in our lives, not only in our salvation but in our sanctification, it will begin producing a diligence inside of each and every one of us.

A diligence to continue on. A diligence that will burn the midnight oil. A diligence that will be so focused that God can work through it. That God can work through you. And I think that there's two areas of our lives that we need to be diligent with. One fits the direct context of the verse. The other seems to fit every other context in the Bible. There's two areas we need to be diligent in.

The first is that we need to be diligent in our prayer time. We need to exert ourselves in our prayer time. Ryan, prayer is supposed to be my peaceful time. Is it? Yes, I think prayer produces peace in our lives. I think that that is the fruit of prayer in our lives. But do you remember when Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane? Do you remember what happened to Jesus

in the Garden of Gethsemane? It says he prayed so intently that it began to produce great drops of blood rolling down his forehead. Now, physiologically, we know now what that means. That when you are so intense in the way that you do something, capillaries will begin to burst and it will actually produce blood flowing from your head. That's the intensity level that Jesus was in

when he was in prayer that day. That's how diligent his prayer was. I don't know about you, but I'm really good at what I like to call arrow prayers. Just those quick little, dear Jesus, right? Now listen, God answers those, okay? The shortest prayer in the Bible is Peter when he's sinking and he says, Lord, help. This was right there. God answers arrow prayers.

But also know that God loves when we diligently seek him. Matter of fact, we're told in the book of Hebrews that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. After first service, somebody came up to me and said, you know, there's that parable of the persistent widow. Have you heard the parable of the persistent widow? That she just kept going and making requests.

And even though the judge said, normally, I wouldn't do anything good for you, because I'm an unjust judge, because you will not leave me alone. I will answer your prayer. And Jesus says, how much more your father who longs to bless you. Brothers and sisters, we could busy our entire day with a lot of things. But if we don't first busy them with prayer, then everything else that we do is absolutely pointless.

Not only are we to be diligent in our prayer life, but number two, which fits the direct context here, we're to be diligent in our study. As a matter of fact, the New and Old King James both translate it like this, study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Same Greek word, diligent, study, they kind of go together. Now, I told you earlier that it's important that we know who we believe, but it is also important to know what we believe.

Matter of fact, we're told in the book of Jude that we should be ready to give a defense for the faith to those who ask about our hope. We're told that we need to be ready with that kind of a defense. And so we need to understand that the word of God is something that we should be taking in on a consistent, constant basis, not just kind of, not just haphazardly, but in a diligent, thought out, studied sort of a way. Now, for some of you that are here this morning, the first best way that you can do that is to go grab one of those Our Daily Breads that are out there in the hallway that will start on March the 1st, because stupidly enough, Tuesday's March the 1st.

I can't get over that, okay? Should still be January, although I am really glad that the evil of winter's leaving. I'm still, I'm behind in life. But you need to grab that little Our Daily Bread, and for you to start digging into the word, you need to read the little verse there and what they have to say about it. But I would venture to say that for most of us in this room,

for 95% of us in this room, it's time to graduate beyond the little snippet. It's time to graduate beyond just a word from the word and start digging into the word. The writer to the book of Hebrews says, you all should be eating meat by now, but instead all you can take in is milk, because you will not mature. And you know what's happening in the 21st century church today?

That exact same problem. We should be taking in meat by now, but what are we still drinking? Milk. Now listen, I am incredibly patient with anybody's growth. I know because I want God to be patient with me. I want to be patient with mine. But listen, we need to grow. There is such a desperate need in our world for the people of God to know the word of God. Because we need to know what we believe.

But brothers and sisters, we also need to know who we believe and who do the scriptures testify of? Jesus. And as I get into that sufficiency of the word of God, because it is the inerrant scripture, the very word of God spoken to me, I must also trust in the very spirit of God who is able to reveal it to me. Now I would venture to say you have the same problem I do.

Brian, I don't understand what it says. Clearly we all struggle with it, which is why he says be diligent. There are study materials beyond your understanding of what you can take in. There are so many commentaries, so many translations, so many ways you can get into God's word to see what it has for you. But do you know what you have more than anything? And I've already said it once,

is you have the Holy Spirit. Remember what Jesus said? Hey listen, I can't tell you everything I want to tell you right now because you can't take it all in. But when I go, I will send the spirit and he will guide you into all truth. That tells us that the Holy Spirit is a teacher. So here's what I want to challenge you to do. Get into this word every day. I don't care where you start.

Might not choose Job. Get into this. Throwing that out there. Throwing that out there. Get into the word every day. And the first thing that you need to do is you need to pray, Lord, open up the scriptures to me. Holy Spirit, teach me. And then as you read through those scriptures, underline things. Write questions down. And then see if you can figure out how to look them up.

If you don't know how to look them up, let me know. I'll teach you how to look stuff up. I'll teach you how to use Bible apps so that you can get into God's word for yourself. Because I so desperately want for you to not only know what God's word has to say, but I want you to know who is saying it to you. Because all of eternity is the time we get to spend with our savior.

Let's get to know him now. He says be diligent to present yourself, approved to God as a workman who doesn't need to be ashamed. Rightly handling the word of truth. Number three comes to us out of chapter three, verse one. Realize difficult times are coming. I tried to put that into two words and I couldn't. So I made it longer. Realize difficult times are coming.

Notice what he says, verse three, and you'll see how creative I got. But realize this, in the last days, difficult times will come. Listen, I know you don't understand that kind of creativity. But just once you study the word for a few years, it just starts flowing off of you like normal, right? It's just natural to you. Listen, we need to understand that difficult times are coming.

Now as Paul was writing this, he's writing it to Timothy and he sees what's coming in Timothy's life. He sees what's coming with the persecution and he wants him to be prepared for that. Sometimes I have to go to the dentist and when I have to go to the dentist, they always have to do one thing to me. They have to drill on my head because I like soda and I like candy and I don't like to floss, much to Rachel's dismay.

She's my hygienist friend and she's always like, you should floss. Anyway, so I go there and they say, oh, look, you've got cavities. Let's drill on your head. And I'm like, now my dentist is a really good friend of mine. I went to high school with him. He was my warmup partner all through high school and wrestling. And so he's a really good friend and he explains to me everything that's happening.

I'm like, so what's this going to be like? What exactly is going to happen? Because in a dentist chair, I'm still five, right? I still want the bubble gum thing to go. They won't let me have that anymore. So what's coming in Timothy's life? So what's coming? And he walks me through, okay, well, we'll do this and then we'll do this and then we'll do this and then we'll,

and you'll be done. And it sounds so easy when he says it. And I'll usually say, Scotty, how long is it going to take? And he'll give me a time and he's always wrong. It's probably my fault. But I appreciate knowing what's coming. So that way when I hear that, I'm like, oh, I don't need to be terrified about that because this is what he's doing. I understand what's coming my way.

Well, the Lord's so gracious to us that he does the same thing for us. When it comes to Paul, he knows what's coming for Timothy because he's already been through it. So he says, you need to realize that difficult times are coming because he doesn't want him to be shocked when they happen. Jesus did the same thing with his disciples before he left. Remember what he told his disciples?

He says, understand this, tribulation will come, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. He prepared his disciples for the same thing. And so Paul prepares him here. Now, I did a little digging into this and he says, but realize in the last days that difficult times will come. The word difficult sounds even worse than it is or is an even worse word than it sounds.

It means perilous and hard to bear. That doesn't sound exciting, does it? Somebody asked me last night, they were like, Pastor Ryan, can you give a really uplifting message tomorrow because it's been a hard week. This is the best I've got, okay? Hard times are coming. No, but seriously, I think, the more that you can know that, with knowledge comes confidence.

And the more that we can be aware of the fact that hard times are coming, we can begin preparing for those hard times. Begin understanding that we need to be ready for those hard times. And then they won't catch us off guard when they happen. Because if I can look ahead and say, it's coming, then I can say, but God is greater. I think we need to be ready for what's coming for us.

Honestly, I believe that the economy is about as good as it's gonna get for a while. I think that the economy is gonna continue to go downhill. Partly because that's what God said was gonna happen. I think that wars and rumors of wars are gonna continue to get worse because that's what the Bible says is gonna happen. I think that the chaos will continue to get worse

because that's what the Bible says is going to happen. And it's all preparing for one thing. It's all preparing for the fact that, one day, there's going to be an antichrist that arises who says, hey, kids, don't worry. I have a plan. I'll get us out of this whole thing. And everybody will follow him. Now, we as the church will be gone by that point in time.

And we won't have to worry about it. But there's nothing saying that in between now and the time when Jesus takes us home to be with him, that we won't have to endure some incredibly hard things. And so, we need to begin to act like men. We need to be strong. And we need to be diligent, because we know difficult times are coming. Number four, he says, preach the word.

Look over at 2 Timothy 4, verse 2. Let's start in verse 1 for context's sake. He says, I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead by his appearing in his kingdom. Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction. He says to preach the word.

The word preach there means to herald or to make a public proclamation. To herald or make a public proclamation. And the idea is this, to get bold and say what needs to be said. I told this story during first service, and I may as well embarrass myself some more. I used to work with a guy named Matt Shaughnessy and Matt loved to make fun of me, and it was hilarious.

Right? Like, I always tell people, like, show up with something original or don't show up at all. And so I appreciated that he did. Those of you that know me know just how much I enjoy tasty treats and Dr. Peppers and stuff. And so every day at break, I would go get a brownie and a Dr. Pepper. Some things don't change. And I'd sit there, and I'd have this apparently giddy look on my face,

and I'd say, this is a great brownie. And he's like, there's Ryan again with his proclamation about the brownie. And so I was really good at making that kind of a proclamation about how good the brownie was. Again, some things never change because I still do that. But that's the idea that's given to us here with this word proclamation. It means you realize what God's done for you,

and you begin to tell the whole world about what God's done for you. Now, you may think to yourself, Ryan, I'm not one that heralds or makes proclamations. Sure you are. You can do it. You never know that when you leave your house in the morning that somebody's gonna begin to come to you wanting to find out the truth of what's going on. You don't know that.

You don't know who you're working with that's been watching your life. That is, they're also watching what goes on in the world is gonna come to you and ask you a question, right? It usually goes like this. Dude, so isn't there a book like at the end of the Bible? It's called like Reva something or other, Reva, Reva, Revelation. Yeah, like Revelation. Doesn't it talk about

like a bunch of crazy stuff that's gonna happen, kind of like what's going on right now? And you can be like, yeah, it does. By the way, that was a real conversation that took place with me and somebody else at one point in time. And you'll have that opportunity to answer those questions for them. But you know what? Fear you probably have with preaching the word.

What if they ask me questions I can't answer? It's the same thing I tell you guys all the time. Listen, understand something. First of all, they will. Second of all, turn the table and start asking them the hard questions. Do this. That's a really good question. What are you gonna do if you have to stand before Jesus in all of your sin? Right? This is a hard one to answer,

isn't it? What are you gonna do with Jesus? I was listening to David Jeremiah teach on this one time and he said, I was on an airplane with somebody. He said, they were very famous and if I told you who they were, you would know exactly who it was, but I told them I'd protect their anonymity so I won't tell you who it was. But we had a debate about Jesus and he said,

finally I hit a point where I just kept asking them the same thing over and over again. But what are you going to do with Jesus? He said, they keep giving me argument after argument and he said, I kept coming back to the same thing, what are you gonna do with Jesus? You see, it's time for us as the church to quit being scared of questions and start asking them.

It's time for us as the church to stop being scared that someone's going to challenge us and start challenging other people because that's exactly what Jesus did. Matter of fact, that was gonna be in my message this morning before I changed my mind, is that Jesus, when they asked him questions, he turned the tables and said, you know what? I have a question for you. Why don't you answer my question?

And you know what they're gonna do? They're just like, I don't know. Well then, let's talk about that, shall we? Because you should be concerned about it. It's time that we started being bold and quit being so scared because we have the truth. We have this treasure in an earthen vessel and the entire world needs it. It's time to preach the word. Okay, but he goes on from there

to say, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Now, I've always appreciated that statement but I read it in a couple of other translations this time and I thought it was pretty cool. The Amplified Bible translates that phrase, be ready to hold yourself in readiness. And the Kenneth Weiss translation says, keep your sense of urgency. You know what that means?

That means that you should have an urgency about every single day when you leave your house. An urgency of knowing that someone needs the truth today. And you should always be ready for that. Ryan, I can't be prepared for everything. Sure you can. Just be in the word. And what promise did Jesus make? If you're a ready vessel, don't worry about how you're gonna respond

because he'll give you what you need in the time. You abide. Maintain that sense of urgency. Well, not only are we to be strong, to be diligent, realize that difficult times are coming and to preach the word. Number five comes to us out of chapter four, verse five. We're to be sober. We're to be sober. Says in chapter four, verse five, but you, be sober in all things,

endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. That word sober literally means calm, collected, steady, and alert in all things. Brothers and sisters, now is not the time to panic. Matter of fact, there is no time to panic. Now is not the time to be chickens with our heads cut off running around. Now is not the time to be freaked out.

Now is the time to be very sober. I didn't share this in first service, but I do think it's kind of interesting because right after Paul says this, look at verses six through eight. He says, he tells them to be sober. Why? Because I'm already being poured out as a drink offering. My time of departure has come. I fought the good fight. I finished the course.

I've kept the faith. He tells them, listen, I'm about to hand off the baton. The best thing you can do is just to keep your cool head about you. Stay calm about these things. Now listen, I think we need to pay attention to something as the church right now. I think we need to maintain a balance in everything that we do with the current situation that's taking place in the world

and with the things I feel like are gonna continue to come at us. I think that we need to be prepared, but I do not think we need to be freaks. And I say that very seriously because I remember Y2K happening and the church were freaks. When Y2K happened, that's just all that there is to it. And we did a lot of strange things, and I'm sorry if I've hurt any feelings

by saying that, but I think it massively hurt the witness of the church, the way that we handled Y2K. And now is not the time to become preppers where we're getting our bunkers ready. Do I think you need to be prepared? I absolutely think that you need to be prepared. I think that keeping some extra groceries is probably a really wise thing for you to do. I think making sure

that you've got food in case something happens. It's a really wise thing to do, right? The Bible speaks a lot about preparedness, which is why in the Bible it says, look to the ant you sluggard, pay attention to how he stores up and prepares for things. I think that you should do that. I think that it's probably always a really good idea every other day or so

for you to keep your gas tank full because I don't know what's gonna happen with those kinds of things. I don't think it's a terrible idea to make sure that you have some way besides your electric stove in your house to have a way to cook some food because I don't know what's coming. None of us know what's coming. I think making sure that you've got some extra water or a way to purify some water is not a terrible idea.

And I don't say these things because we need to be freaked out. I say these things because we need to be wise. And we as the church need to lead the way in the areas of wisdom. But while we need to be prepared, we do not need to be freaked out because the preparedness that God is giving us in our hearts is so that we can reach out and love to the Lord. We need to love the world

that is around us, not so that we can shoot anybody that comes near our food stash. You know who you are. Sorry, I had to lighten that moment. He says to be sober. Keep a cool head about you. He's given us these exhortations. He's given us this wisdom to be strong, to be diligent, realize these times are coming, to preach the word and to be sober. The only reason why Paul

is able to say these things with the confidence that he's able to say them is because he said, I know in whom I have believed and I am persuaded, I am convinced that he's able to keep what I've committed to him until that day. Amen? So let's be persuaded, let's be convinced, and let's be prepared. Let's all stand. And if you would bow with me. Father, as we stand

in this unique time in history, Lord, we understand that you're in control of it all. And that we can rest in a sovereign God who loves us more than we can imagine. Lord, as we stand in this time, it's our desire to be about your business. And so Lord, do your work in our hearts and in our souls. Do your work to prepare us for what you have coming. And Lord, I pray that you would

begin to grant to us the boldness that we need to take the lead as the church. Lord, that we would have the boldness that we need to stand up and step out where we need to. Lord, that you would fill us with the love that we need to be able to do those things in a heart that wants to see people come to know you, not just defend our viewpoint. Lord, do your work in our hearts and in our minds and fashion in us those hearts of men and women of God that you want for us to be.

We just praise you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed. We, my people, his righteousness, humbled himself and carried the cross. Love so amazing. Love so amazing. Jesus, Messiah, blessed Redeemer, rescued for sinner, ransomed from heaven. Jesus, Messiah, trembled and the veil was torn. Love so amazing. Love so amazing. Jesus, Messiah, blessed Redeemer,

ransomed from heaven. Amen. The Lord bless you all. Have a great week.